The Bombay High Court said it was wrong to arrest Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak in the ICICI Bank – Videocon Loan Fraud Case. This happened on 6th February, 2024. Justice Anuja Pabhudessai made this decision.
The couple were released last year January after a bench found their arrest wasn’t right that not accordance with section 41A and section 41(1)(b)(ii) of the CrPC.
The court rejected the reasons CBI gave for the arrest. They said the judge didn’t record everything properly. The court said just because someone doesn’t confess, it doesn’t mean they didn’t cooperate with the investigation.
The Court observed that “merely because an accused does not confess, it cannot be said that the accused have not co-operated with the investigation.”
The court further added that, “Article 20(3) is an essential safeguard in criminal cases and is meant to be a vital safeguard against torture and other coercive methods used by investigating agencies. Hence, merely because an accused does not confess, it cannot be said that the accused have not co-operated with the investigation,”.
The CBI and went to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision. But the Supreme Court said CBI should talk to the High Court again. So, the case went back to the High Court.
Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar went to the High Court in two separate requests. They wanted the case regarding irregularities in loans granted to Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon Group by ICICI Bank between 2009-2012 against them to be cancelled. They also wanted to be released temporarily.
They were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act’s Sections 7 and 13(2), along with Sections 120B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
They didn’t ask for the case to be cancelled because the CBI already filed charges.
Their petition questioned why they were arrested right before their son’s wedding. Their son was supposed to get married on January 15, 2023. The CBI started looking into them in January 2018. They said Deepak Kochhar got a big loan from ICICI Bank. This was after he helped someone else get a loan from ICICI Bank. The loans were against the rules. The CBI says ICICI Bank lost a lot of money because of this.
After the FIR was filed, Deepak Kochhar was asked to come in eight times. He gave a lot of evidence. Chanda Kochhar said she was only asked to come in twice before she was arrested.
In court, Chanda Kochhar’s lawyer said she didn’t know about her husband’s business. He said the arrest wasn’t done properly. He also said there wasn’t a lady officer present during the arrest. The CBI’s lawyer said the Kochhars should have talked to the trial court first. He said they weren’t answering questions properly.