Tribunal upholds ED seizure of Kochhar's assets worth ₹78-cr

A Delhi appellate tribunal has upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s attachment of former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar's properties worth Rs 78 crore, overturning a Mumbai adjudicating authority's earlier dismissal and ruling there is a “prima facie” money laundering case against her and husband Deepak Kochhar.

- Neeraj Chauhan

The Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property (ATFP) said the ₹64 crore transferred by Videocon Group to Deepak Kochhar’s company immediately after ICICI Bank cleared a ₹300 crore loan to Videocon was “quid pro quo”, rejecting Chanda Kochhar’s claims that she was unaware of her husband’s business dealings.

The tribunal criticised Kochhar for failing to distance herself from the bank's sanctioning committee that approved loans to Videocon Group under the “urgent category”, saying she “cannot plead ignorance” about her husband’s business association with the conglomerate.

“It may be true that the issue will be determined by the trial court but we find a prima facie case against the respondents for commission of the offence of money laundering and, therefore, the provisional attachment order is justified,” the ATFP bench of justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari (chairman) and member Balesh Kumar ruled on July 3, setting aside the Mumbai adjudicating authority's November 2020 decision.