Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case: SAT asks SEBI to provide certain documents to Chanda Kochhar

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to provide certain documents pertaining to loans sanctioned by ICICI Bank to entities including Videocon Group to the private lender's former chief Chanda Kochhar.

Directing the capital markets regulator to provide such documents, the tribunal said that denial of the documents sought for by the respondent (Sebi) was in "gross violation of the principles of natural justice".

The matter pertains to an amended show cause notice issued by the regulator to Kochhar on the basis of an analysis of a report by retired Justice B N Srikrishna.

The Srikrishna committee, which was tasked to probe the allegations of quid pro quo transactions in ICICI Bank, submitted its report to the lender in January 2019.

The committee, in its report, observed that Kochhar violated bank policies and other rules and regulations.

The board of the bank based on the report had decided to treat her resignation as 'termination for cause' under the bank's internal policies. Kochhar, who was managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank, had quit the bank in October 2018.

Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were released from jail on Tuesday morning, a day after the Bombay High Court granted them interim bail in a loan fraud case. The CBI had arrested Kochhars on December 23, 2022 in connection with the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.

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It was alleged that Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in Nupower Renewables Private Limited, months after the Videocon group got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012. Nupower was operated by Deepak Kochhar.

Asking Sebi to provide documents, the tribunal said that it was obligatory for the markets regulator to supply all the minutes of the Sanctioning Committee meetings in respect of loan sanctioned to Videocon Group instead of partially supplying the minutes of those meetings where Kochhar was present.

SAT noted that documents sought by Kochhar were only supplied in part -- the minutes of the Sanctioning Committee in which Kochhar participated were provided to her and the other minutes have been denied only on the ground that she was not a participant in those meetings.

"The distinction made by the respondent for not supplying the documents is not only absurd but perverse," the tribunal said in its order passed on January 5.

However, the appellate tribunal said that documents such as list of 33 officials of ICICI Bank who were interviewed as well as the recording of their statements and correspondence between the bank and the CBI cannot be supplied.

These documents cannot be provided as they are not available with the ICICI Bank and were not part of the report provided to the bank by retired Justice B N Srikrishna.

Sebi counsel stated that the correspondence between the bank and the CBI are not part of the report and cannot be provided. "Such a request amounts to a roving and fishing enquiry which cannot be entertained".

The regulator, in May 2018, issued a show cause notice to her raising allegations of conflict of interest in respect of approvals of loans or credit facilities by the ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group.

Kochhar submitted a detailed response to the show cause notice in August 2018 and personal hearing was held in November 2018 and thereafter, she submitted its written submissions in December 2018 and the matter thereafter was reserved for orders.

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Later in November 2020, an amended show cause notice was issued to her on the basis of the Srikrishna committee report.

It was alleged that the amended show cause notice was incomplete as it was not accompanied by any enclosures or annexures or exhibits or appendices.

With PTI Inputs