CBI custody of Kochhar couple extends till Dec 29

A special Central Bureau of Investigation court extended till December 29 the CBI custody of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a loan fraud case.

The probe agency arrested Kochhars last Friday after questioning them briefly. Dhoot was arrested on Monday. All the three were produced before special judge S M Menjoge at the end of their earlier remand on Wednesday.

The CBI, represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin, sought their custody for another two days for further probe into the case. After hearing both the sides, the court extended the custody of Kochhars and Dhoot till December 29.

The CBI has alleged that ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to companies of the Videocon Group promoted by Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.

According to the CBI, a sanctioning committee headed by Chanda Kochhar in 2009 approved a term loan of Rs 300 crore to VIEL in contravention of the rules and policies of the bank by abusing her official position as a public servant.