On December 24, the CBI arrested ICICI Bank's ex-CEO and MD, Chanda Kochhar along with her husband Deepak Kochhar. On December 26, two days later, the central investigation agency arrested Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot
Chanda Kochhar, in many ways, was known to break the glass ceiling. She was the first woman to head an Indian bank and, for many decades, was counted as one of India's most powerful women in business. Her fall from grace was nothing short of tragic
It all started in March 2016 when activist shareholder, Arvind Gupta, who is also the founder of Indian Investors Protection Council, wrote to PM Narendra Modi flagging "the illicit banking and commercial relationship...
...between Videocon Group of Venugopal Dhoot and ICICI Bank's MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar's family". But Gupta was ignored, leading him to reproduce the entire letter on his blog
Initial reaction to Gupta's letter was rather tepid. But the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had to step in and conduct a detailed probe into the matter, especially pertaining to the relationship existing between Kochhar, her husband Deepak and Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot
The main allegation was that the Kochhar family reaped windfall profits due to their association with Videocon chairman Dhoot, whose company owed large debts to ICICI Bank. However, RBI's investigation found no evidence of any quid pro quo between the parties
In March 2018, with the nation already reeling with the Nirav Modi scam, the Indian media picked up Arvind Gupta's blog post, and at this time, it sends a shockwave across the banking establishment, and also the general public…
… However, by the end of March, ICICI Bank's board reviewed the credit approval process and expressed full faith in the company's establishment. But on March 31, the CBI stepped in and took over the case
In April 2018, Chanda Kochhar, beset with all the allegations against her, backed out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation, the same event where she was facilitated by the then President Ram Nath Kovind. The CBI picked up Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar for questioning in the same month
In May 2018, SEBI sent a notice to Chanda Kochhar, asking for clarification about ICICI Bank's dealings with Videocon. In question was another company, called Nupower Renewables, a company co-founded by her husband Deepak
ICICI Bank appointed former judge of the Supreme Court BN Srikrishna to head the external probe into the matter. Chanda Kochhar went on indefinite leave in June 2018. By October, Kochhar resigned from her position, even before the Srikrishna panel submitted its report
In early 2019, the CBI booked the Kochhars and Dhoot for alleged cheating and corruption in sanctioning loans to Videocon, thereby causing a loss of Rs 1,730 crore to ICICI Bank. As per the CBI, Chanda Kochhar was part of the committee that looked into the loan sanctioning issue and, hence, the loan could not have been dispersed without her approval
The explosive Srikrishna panel report also found Chanda Kochhar guilty, thereby sealing her fate, along with that of her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot
The latest CBI arrests can be seen as a logical fallout of the years-long investigation. The CBI is confident that it has enough evidence to prove that kickbacks were received by the Kochhars from Videocon, a company that was anyway in loss, losing its market share in the consumer durables space to other big firms like LG and Samsung
Story by: Arnav Das Sharma
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh