Chanda Kochhar was fired last year, months after she resigned from her positions.
New Delhi:
Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar faced a setback today when the Supreme Court rejected her appeal against her dismissal as the bank’s CEO and CEO. Ms. Kochhar, who is facing charges for alleged money laundering, had addressed the high court after the Bombay High Court dismissed her petition against her dismissal.
“We are not willing to interfere in the contested order. This falls within the scope of the private contract between the bank and the employer,” the Supreme Court said.
Ms. Kochhar was fired last year, months after she resigned from her positions.
Former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Kochhar, said there can be no termination without prior approval.
The Directorate of Enforcement or ED had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act early last year against Ms Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group to investigate alleged wrongdoing and corrupt practices in the penalty of Rs. Rs 1,875 crore in loans from ICICI Bank.
Deepak Kochhar was arrested this September.
The Directorate of Enforcement is also investigating at least two other cases of loans granted by ICICI Bank during Ms. Kochhar’s tenure to the Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech and Bhushan Steel Group; both are also being investigated for alleged money laundering.
The case of the Directorate of Enforcement is based on a complaint registered by the Central Investigation Office, which is conducting an independent investigation; it had also named the three individuals and added three companies, including two under the Videocon name, owned by Mr. Dhoot’s companies.
NuPower Renewables, a company controlled by Deepak Kochhar, had also been named.
The CBI has alleged that Dhoot invested in NuPower through another company, Supreme Energy, in a quid pro quo agreement through loans approved by ICICI after Chanda Kochhar took over as CEO of ICICI Bank in May 2009.
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