Former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar has been found guilty of accepting a bribe of Rs 64 crore in exchange for approving a Rs 300 crore loan to the Videocon Group, according to reports.

An appellate tribunal issued this decision on July 3. According to the tribunal, the money was routed through Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar, who used a company affiliated with Videocon.

Key Highlights

• Appellate tribunal convicts Chanda Kochhar for accepting ₹64 crore bribe linked to ₹300 crore Videocon loan sanction.
• Tribunal rebukes prior reliefs, strengthens ED case amid broader ₹3,250 cr loan fraud involving her husband Deepak. 

The tribunal upheld the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) argument, concluding that the payment was an obvious instance of quid pro quo. It claimed that the ED had produced legally admissible statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and solid documentary evidence.

The tribunal found that the loan approval was against ICICI Bank's internal policies and that Chanda Kochhar had neglected to disclose her conflict of interest.

According to the tribunal, the Rs 64 crore was given to Deepak Kochhar's company, NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), from Videocon's group company SEPL. This transaction took place a day after Videocon received the Rs 300 crore loan from ICICI Bank.

NRPL was initially shown to be owned by Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot, but the tribunal determined that Deepak Kochhar, who was also the company's managing director, actually held the reins of power. It claimed that because Chanda Kochhar failed to disclose these relationships when approving the loan, this blatantly demonstrated a conflict of interest.

According to the report, the tribunal stated that "the allegations stand corroborated by evidence and statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA Act." It also stated that the money trail was direct and demonstrated abuse of power for personal gain.

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The tribunal also criticised an adjudicating authority's decision in November 2020 to release attached assets belonging to Chanda Kochhar and her family. The authority found insufficient grounds to retain the assets, but the tribunal disagreed strongly.

It stated that the previous authority had ignored key facts and reached conclusions that were not supported by the evidence. "The adjudicating authority ignored key material facts and reached conclusions that contradicted the record. As a result, we cannot support its findings," the tribunal stated.

The appellate tribunal upheld the ED's decision to attach the Kochhars' assets. It claimed that the attachment was based on a clear timeline of events and solid documentary evidence.

The tribunal concluded that the entire process, from loan approval to fund transfer and routing to a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, demonstrated clear misuse of position and violation of ethical standards.