ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law, NuPower director quizzed by CBI

The ICICI Bank case is continuing to stay in the limelight as the central investigation agency is not letting up in its drive to find out exactly how things stand. The CBI has questioned Rajiv Kochhar, brother-in-law of ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, for the fifth consecutive day on Monday along with NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd director Mahesh Chandra Punglia in connection with a case relating to Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012. Punglia, a close aide of Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot, was examined for the third consecutive day in connection with the case. He was previously an employee of Videocon Group and then used to offer consultancy services to it. 

He is also a Director in NuPower Renewables Private Limited, the company formed by Chanda Kochhar`s husband Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot in December 2008.  Rajiv Kochhar and Punglia were questioned at the Central Bureau of Investigation`s (CBI) Bandra office. The agency on Sunday also questioned another NuPower director Umanath Vainkut Nayak in connection with the case.

Punglia was examined about the role of Rajiv Kochhar`s Singapore-based company Avista Advisory in the restructuring of loan. The NuPower director was also asked about the help he extended to Videocon in securing the loan from the ICICI Bank, which was part of a Rs 40,000 crore credit given by a consortium of 20 banks, led by the State Bank of India, to the Videocon Group.

Rajiv Kochhar was on Thursday stopped at Mumbai airport by immigration authorities around 11 a.m. when he was about to leave for Singapore. Later, he was handed over to a CBI which is questioning him as part of its preliminary probe against his brother Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot.

The agency had registered a preliminary inquiry against Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group officials and others to determine any wrongdoing or otherwise in the sanction of loan to the Group by the ICICI Bank as part of the consortium of banks in 2012.

Chanda Kochhar, who is facing questions of conflict of interest in the case, has not been named in the preliminary inquiry, which was registered after news reports raised questions about the Videocon Chairman giving loan of Rs 64 crore to a firm he had jointly promoted with Deepak Kochhar, six months after his group got the Rs 3,250 crore loan. 

Sources said Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot could also be called for questioning after examination of documents of the loan and statements.