CBI court allows Kochhar couple, Venugopal Dhoot use special beds

A special court in Mumbai granted Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, and her husband Deepak Kochhar, to use special mattresses and beds during the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody. The trio is moved to the Santacruz lock-up of Mumbai Police from the CBI office in the BKC after interrogation.

• During its initial probe, the CBI discovered six loans worth Rs. 1,875 crore were approved for the Videocon Group and companies linked with it from June 2009 to October 2011 in a reported violation of the bank's laid-down policies.
• The agency also said loans were shown as non-performing assets during 2012, which resulted in a loss of approximately Rs. 1,730 crore to the lender.

After Venugopal Dhoot, Chanda, and Deepak Kochhar were sent to CBI custody until December 28; the Kochhars claimed they were forced to sleep on the floor during winter. All three accused demanded approval to use special beds, chairs, mattresses, towels, pillows, bed sheets, and blankets, citing medical reasons. The CBI had also revealed to the special court that their office doesn't have a lock-up.

Just a day before, special court Judge A S Sayyad remanded the Kochhars and Dhoot in CBI custody until Wednesday and also allowed them to have medicines and home-cooked food. The accused have also been permitted to seek assistance from their lawyers for an hour in private each day until the probe is done.

The special court also added that CBI should allow one attendant to escort Dhoot to assist him with insulin as and when needed during custody. On Monday morning, the CBI caught Venugopal Dhoot from Mumbai regarding the ICICI Bank loan fraud case. Furthermore, the central investigation agency arrested the Kochhar couple on Friday night.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had named Dhoot and the Kochhars, along with companies Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Industries Limited, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Supreme Energy, as accused in the First Information Report (FIR) filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) provinces linked to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the 2019 Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to the CBI, ICICI Bank had authorized credit facilities to the tune of Rs. 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Venugopal Dhoot in breach of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, the Banking Regulation Act, and the bank's credit policy. The investigation agency also said that Kochhar abused her official position and committed major fraud with her husband.

As per Moneylife, the Kochhars and Dhoot owned the Videocon Group and had shared business connections for at least the last 24 years. The partnership between the Kochhar brothers, Deepak and Rajiv, and the Videocon Group reportedly dates back to 1994-95.