ICICI-Videocon case: Court grants bail to Chanda Kochhar, asks her not to leave country without permission

A Special PMLA court on Friday granted bail to former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case.

The special PMLA court granted bail to Kochhar on a bond of Rs 5 lakhs and asked her not to leave the country without the permission of the court.

Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot did not appear before the court today and it was brought to the notice of the court that summons was not served to him properly as per rules. Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told the court that fresh summons will be served to Venugopal.

Earlier in May 2020, the ED had questioned and recorded statements of her and her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with the investigation into alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of Rs 1,875 crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to Venugopal Dhoot-led Videocon Group in 2009 and 2011.The ED conducted raids at locations linked to them in March 2020.

It had also grilled Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar from April 30 to May 2, stating that he withheld crucial information pertaining to the case. Dhoot was also questioned in connection with the case.Earlier in 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR in the ICICI-Videocon loan case involving Kochhars.It was investigating irregularities in the Rs 40,000 crore loan granted by a consortium of lenders. Chanda Kochhar has been accused of misusing her position in the company after she allegedly provided a Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group on a quid pro quo basis in 2012.

( With inputs from ANI )