Twist In The Kochhar Saga

Reportedly on the verge of being dropped, the investigations into the conduct of Chanda Kochhar, former ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer, took a sharp turn on January 25 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked her for “dishonestly sanctioning loans to the Videocon group”.

- M.G. Arun

Raids were conducted on Videocon’s headquarters in Mumbai and an office in Aurangabad, while there were searches at the offices of NuPower Renewables, an alternative energy company co­founded by Venugo­ pal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon, and Chanda’s husband Deepak. The CBI also named a number of senior bankers, either currently or formerly associated with ICICI Bank, in its FIR, prompt­ ing a sharp response from Arun Jaitley, the Union finance minister who is now minister without portfolio as he convalesces in the US. Jaitley accused the CBI, the country’s premier investigating agency, of “adventurism”.