Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. The charge sheet filed against ICICI Bank's former MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot has made several shocking revelations. In a charge sheet of over 10,000 pages, the CBI has alleged that Chanda Kochhar was entrusted with the responsibility of ICICI Bank. Six 'Rupee Term Loans' (RTL) were sanctioned to the Videocon Group from May 1, 2009 after becoming MD and CEO of the bank. The chargesheet states that between June 2009 and October 2011, the bank sanctioned RTLs totaling Rs 1,875 crore to the group. Notably, More than Rs 1,000 crore given by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group has become a non-performing asset (NPA). When the borrower is unable to repay the borrowed amount, the bank gets stuck and then the bank declares the amount as NPA.

Chanda was the chairperson of the board of directors

Chanda Kochhar was the chairperson of the two-member board of directors, which in August 2009 approved a Rs 300 crore RTL to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL). The CBI further said that a criminal conspiracy was formed by sanctioning this term loan. On 26 August 2009, a committee of directors headed by Kochhar approved Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Limited. The loan amount was disbursed on September 7, 2009.

Who is Chanda Kochhar?

A senior bankar, Chanda Kochhar made her debut in the banking sector at the age of 22 and became the CEO at the age of 47, the first woman CEO of a bank in India. Before that, she was responsible for the corporate and retail banking of the bank. She also held the post of CFO of the bank for some time. In 2009, she was ranked 20th out of 100 on the Forbes list when she took over as MD and CEO. Kochhar was ranked after Sonia Gandhi in the list of most powerful women in the world. In 2011, she was also honored with the Padma Bhushan Award by the Government of India.

What is the case?

Between the years 2009 and 2011, ICICI Bank had given a loan of around 1875 crores to the Videocon group. But Kochhar was accused of wrongdoing in these financial transactions. Initially, the bank had taken Kochhar's side in this regard, but the bank changed its stance when the CBI started an investigation. An inquiry committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Shri B N Krishna. It is said that the bank has suffered financial loss due to illegal loans given by the bank. CBI has registered a case on January 22, 2019 against Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot.