In a relief to former ICICI Bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar’s husband and businessman Deepak Kochhar, the Bombay High Court on Friday ruled that no coercive action should be taken against him by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and that he be questioned only during working hours on any day.

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Rohit Wasudeo Joshi passed this order while hearing Kochhar’s plea praying that senior citizens like him should be summoned and questioned during working hours only.

Kochhar is being investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act over a high-value loan of over Rs 3,200 crores given to the Videocon group when she was at the helm.

On Friday, Advocates Amit Desai and Ashwin Thool submitted before the court that Deepak Kochhar had been summoned on October 22 by SFIO officials and was detained and questioned late into the night which was in complete violation of his fundamental rights.

Kochhar filed this plea through Thool and pointed out that he had been summoned by the SFIO although he is neither a director nor a shareholder nor, in any way, affiliated with any of the companies that SFIO is investigating into.

Kochhar’s plea further pointed out that transactions which are being enquired into by the SFIO, have already been examined by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

THE CASE IN QUESTION

It was in 2017 that the CBI had initiated a Preliminary Enquiry against Kochhar and his wife, Chanda Kochhar, former MD and CEO of ICICI in connection with the allegations of a link between sanction of loan by the ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group and the investment of Rs 64 crores by VN Dhoot via his company SEPL into Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL).

In 2019, the ED too began it’s probe pertaining to the investment of Rs 64 crores and a flat at CCI Chambers in Mumbai. Deepak Kochhar was arrested in 2020 by the financial probe agency and later by the CBI in 2022. He was then granted bail by the High Court.

Now, after more than three years, Kochhar received summons from the SFIO to appear before it on October 18. NRPL and Supreme Energy B, C 28 Pvt. Ltd. (a shareholder of NRPL) also received Notices from SFIO to submit information about financial transactions entered into with Videocon Industries Ltd. and its 12 companies.

Pursuant to the summons being sent, Deepak Kochhar reported at the SFIO Office on October 22 at 10.30 am. He claimed that the SFIO officials began questioning him at 10.45 am and concluded only around 10.10 pm. The SFIO summoned him again on October 28 for questioning.