Mumbai: A sessions court on Tuesday remanded in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till 17 October businessman and former ICICI Bank’s CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar.
Kochhar recently tested negative for COVID-19 and was discharged from New Delhi’s AIIMS. He was in the agency’s custodial interrogation when he had tested positive for COVID-19 on 14 September after his arrest on 8 September. The agency on Tuesday afternoon produced him before a court after his discharge and sought his custody for interrogation again as his custody has been suspended owing to his testing positive.
Special Public Prosecutor for the agency Sunil Gonsalves sought that Kochhar be remanded in ED custody for the remaining days of custody. Appearing for Kochhar, advocates Vijay Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal opposed the agency’s plea and cited an apex court judgment which held that an accused can be remanded in police custody only during the first 15 days. Such a period ended on 23 September they contended. They also told the court that after testing negative and being discharged, as per medical advice, Kochhar needs 14 days rest and sought that he be admitted in a private hospital such as HN Reliance or Breach Candy.
The court also heard Chanda Kochhar who told the court that her husband suffers from ailments such as knee problems and needs at least two weeks rest as he had suffered from COVID-19 for three weeks.