Videocon- ICICI Bank case: Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak gets bail

Bombay High Court on March 25 granted bail to Deepak Kochhar, former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband in a corruption case. Kocchar had approached the high court after a special court in the city rejected his bail in December last year.

Kochhar was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September 2020 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case.

The ED registered the money laundering case following an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Kochhar couple, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, and others for allegedly causing loss to the ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon Group of companies in contravention to the policies of the ICICI Bank.

Kochhar had argued that the ED had taken note of all the alleged proceeds of crime in the case, so there was no chance of him creating any third party rights, or interfering with the probe if out on bail.

In February this year, Chanda Kochhar was also granted bail in the corruption case on a bond of Rs five lakh by a Mumbai court.

Kochhar stepped down as managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank on October 4, 2018. The bank's board sacked her in January 2019, treating her exit as termination.