ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case: Bombay HC reserves its order on Venugopal Dhoot's petition

Bombay High Court on Friday has reserved its order on the writ petition filed by Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot where he had sought that the arrest by CBI be declared illegal and and he be set free in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case. 

Earlier this week, the High Court had granted bail to the co-accused in the case, former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, observing that their "arrest not in accordance with the law".

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan during the hearing made it clear that they were not going into the merits of the case or of Dhoot's medical conditions but were purely hearing the case on the aspect of illegal arrest.

Couple of lawyers tried to intervene but the court closed the petition hearing for orders.

The Bombay High Court, while allowing interim relief to the former ICICI Bank CEO and MD and her husband, observed that it is incumbent upon the police not only to record reasons for arrest in writing but, even in cases, where the police choose not to arrest. "It is also incumbent on courts to satisfy themselves that there is due compliance of Sections 41 and 41-A, failing which, the same will ensure the benefit of the person suspected of the offence, entitling the person to be released on bail," the court observed further.

The order further read that there must be a direct nexus or live link between the material before the officer and the formation of his belief. Thus, there must be a rational connection between the two. "We may note, that 'reason to believe' must be based on credible material and no decision to arrest can be recorded on fancy or whimsical grounds," the court noted.

The case is related to alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of a Rs 1,875-crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group between 2009 and 2011. During its preliminary inquiry, the CBI found that six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore were sanctioned to the Videocon Group and companies associated with it between June 2009 and October 2011, in an alleged violation of the laid-down policies of ICICI Bank.

The agency claimed the loans were declared non-performing assets in 2012, causing a loss of Rs 1,730 crore to the bank.