MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, in a money laundering case under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). As he directed Kochhar’s release on a personal bond of Rs 3 lakh, Justice P D Naik observed that a loan of Rs 300 crore was repaid in its entirety to ICICI Bank and no loss was caused to it.
The high court observed that the loan was repaid before the registration of the FIR by the CBI and initiation of the proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Kochhar must surrender his passport and visit the ED once a month. Of the 11 accused in the ED case, Kochhar was the only one arrested, in September. The 59-year-old is likely to complete his bail formalities and get released by the weekend, said his lawyer.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Kochhar and arguing for his bail, cited the findings of a November 6, 2020, PMLA adjudicating authority order that had in effect “exonerated” him in the adjudication proceedings.
The high court factored the dismissal by the authority of the original complaint under PMLA while granting bail. The high court said an appeal was pending with a status quo order.
The authority in an 800-page order had declined the ED plea to confirm its provisional attachment of Kochhar’s pricy flat in the CCI building at Churchgate in south Mumbai, saying it was not involved in money laundering.
It had also rejected an ED plea to attach various wind power assets belonging to Nupower Renewables (Pvt) Ltd (NRL), which Deepak Kochhar founded, and its subsidiaries. The high court recorded Desai’s submissions that no loans to Videocon were sanctioned independently by Chanda Kochhar and there was nothing to connect the allegation that V N Dhoot of Videocon transferred Rs 64 crore to NRL as undue benefit.
Desai said the offence Kochhar was accused of under the PMLA attracted seven years in jail and he could not be incarcerated indefinitely under the pretext of further investigation by the ED.
The ED, through additional solicitor general S V Raju with SPP Hiten Venegaonkar, had opposed his plea, pointing to its November 3, 2002, chargesheet. The ED argued that economic offences were to be viewed seriously and said that under PMLA Act it would be presumed that proceeds of crime were involved in money laundering unless the contrary was proved.
In January 2019, the CBI filed a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the IPC and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Kochhar and his wife, among others, for allegedly causing losses to ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans to Videocon Group in contravention of the bank’s rules and policies.