Videocon Group loan a ‘business loss’: ICICI Bank on CBI chargesheet against Kochhars, Venugopal Dhoot  

Private lender ICICI Bank on Saturday called a loan of over Rs 1,000 crore that the Videocon Group failed to repay it as a “business loan” and not a “wrongful loss”, as stated in the recent Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet in its corruption case against the former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet spanning over 10,000 pages recently before a special CBI court. Last month, a special CBI court took cognisance of the chargesheet and will now hear the arguments on framing of charges. The CBI named former CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, former Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot and six entities as accused in the case. The accused in the case have so far denied any wrongdoing.

Commenting on the allegations in the chargesheet, the bank said in a statement accessed by The Economic Times that it followed due processes while granting the loans to Videocon Group while claiming the central agency’s allegations of wrongful loss and violation of rules are not “factually correct”. ICICI Bank legal head Nilanjan Saha said Videocon Group could not repay this loan due to business failure. “ICICI Bank considers it was a business loss and not a wrongful loss caused by Videocon to ICICI Bank on account of the said loan,” Saha was quoted as saying by the publication.

"The credit facilities sanctioned by ICICI Bank to Videocon Group turned into NPAs in June 2017, with an outstanding amount of Rs 1,033 crore. Thereby, ICICI Bank had to suffer loss of Rs 1,033 crore plus interest thereupon," the CBI charge sheet said.

The CBI further claimed in its chargesheet that after Chanda Kochhar became the managing director and CEO of the private lender, six Rupee Term Loans were sanctioned to the Videocon Group from May 1, 2009. From June 2009 to October 2011, ICICI Bank sanctioned Rupee Term Loans worth total Rs 1,875 crore to the group. Kochhar was also the chairperson of the two-member Committee of Directors which sanctioned Rupee Term Loans of Rs 300 crore in August 2009 to Videocon International Electronics Limited.

The chargesheet further mentioned that Chanda Kochhar was a member of the committee of senior managers, i.e., recommending committee, and the credit committee, i.e., the sanctioning committee, for sanctioning Rupee Term Loans worth Rs 750 crore to Videocon Industries in October 2011. It also mentioned that the former ICICI Bank boss was a member of the committees which sanctioned various loan limits to Videocon Group even after 2012.

The central agency alleged that the Kochhars, Dhoot and other accused “"engineered a plan and design in December 2008, after the announcement of appointment of Ms Chanda Kochhar as MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, to get sanctioned loans to the Videocon Group”. The former ICICI Bank boss lived in a Videocon Group-owned flat in Mumbai, which was later transferred to her family trust for only Rs 11 lakh in October 2016. Her husband Deepak Kochhar was the managing trustee of the Kochhar family trust.

The flat’s actual value was Rs 5.25 crore, as per the central agency. Chanda Kochhar has also been accused of accepting ‘illegal gratification’ worth Rs 64 crore, due to which she allegedly misappropriated the bank’s funds for her own use. Deepak Kochhar conspired with the other accused in the case to get sanctioned credit facilities from the ICICI Bank in favour of Videocon Group through his wife to obtain illegal gratification worth Rs 64 crore in the guise of investments (in the companies controlled by him) through a series of transactions, as per the CBI.

Other accused in the case named by the CBI are Nupower Renewables managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics and Videocon Industries. The CBI chargesheet is based on a 2019 FIR registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

(With PTI inputs)

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