The lack of such circumstances makes the arrest illegal, the court said.
Mumbai:
Former ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a loan fraud case “without applying their minds and without due respect for the law”. The Bombay High Court has said this is an “abuse of power”.
A division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudesai and NR Borkar had on February 6 held Kochhar’s arrest illegal and confirmed an interim order granted by another bench granting him bail in January 2023.
In the order made available on Monday, the court said the CBI has been unable to demonstrate the circumstances or existence of supporting material on the basis of which the decision to arrest was taken.
It says the absence of such circumstances makes the arrest illegal.
“Such routine arrests without application of mind and without due respect for the law amount to abuse of power,” the court said.
The court also refused to accept the probe agency’s contention that the arrest was made because Kochhar was not cooperating in the investigation and said the accused have the right to remain silent during interrogation.
“The right to remain silent emanates from Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution, which gives the accused the right against self-incrimination. Suffice it to say that the exercise of the right to remain silent cannot amount to non-cooperation,” This is stated in the order.
The couple was arrested by the CBI on December 23, 2022, in the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan case.
He immediately moved the High Court challenging the arrest and sought to declare it illegal, and sought his release on bail through an interim order.
On January 9, 2023, the court, in an interim order, granted bail to Kochhar, noting that the CBI had conducted the arrest carelessly and mechanically and without application of mind.
In the February 6 order, the bench said Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was introduced to avoid routine arrest.
It states that this provision restricts the power of arrest when an accused person complies with a notice issued by the police to appear for questioning and mandates that an arrest shall be made only when the police are of the opinion that Be that it is necessary.
The court held that although it is within the jurisdiction of the investigating agency to interrogate an accused and arrive at a subjective satisfaction on the issue, it is not “completely free from judicial review”.
It said, “The court may consider whether the reasons for deprivation of liberty are reasonable, reasonable or imaginary.”
The bench further said that the First Information Report (FIR) against Kochhar was filed in 2019, and he was called for questioning in 2022.
“Despite the gravity of the offence, the petitioners (Kochhars) were not interrogated or summoned for a period of more than three years from the date of registration of the offence,” it said.
The bench said, from June 2022 onwards, whenever Kochhar was issued a notice under Section 41A, he continued to appear before the CBI.
The CBI had claimed that Kochhar was arrested because he was not cooperating in the investigation and his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the entire aspect of the conspiracy.
Apart from Kochhar, the CBI had also arrested Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot in the case. The High Court granted him bail in its interim order in January 2023.
The probe agency has alleged that private sector lender ICICI Bank had sanctioned loan facilities worth Rs 3,250 crore to Dhoot-promoted Videocon group companies in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India guidelines and credit policy. Edge.
The CBI has named Kochhar, Dhoot as well as Deepak Kochhar-managed NuPower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd as accused in the FIR registered in 2019 under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy. Was named in. Provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
The agency has alleged that ICICI Bank violated the rules and sanctioned loan facilities worth Rs 3,250 crore to these companies.
It further claims that in return, Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in NuPower Renewables through Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL) and Pinnacle managed by Deepak Kochhar to SEPL through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012. Transferred to Energy Trust. ,
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
