ICICI Bank loan fraud: Chanda Kochhar wants retirement benefits, ESOPs, moves Supreme Court

Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, who was terminated from her role, following allegations of loan fraud, has now moved the Supreme Court to challenge the Bombay High Court order that refused to stay her termination. Kochhar contended that her termination that took place on January 30, 2019, four months after the bank approved her voluntary resignation on October 4, 2018, was illegal.

Chanda Kochhar has also sought all the retirement benefits and entitlements like Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) that were revoked following the termination. She argued that the benefits and entitlements were wrongfully revoked as a consequence of her illegal termination, as per a report in The Economic Times.

The former ICICI chief has also asked the Supreme Court to restrain the lender from “denying, obstructing or interfering with her exercise of the vested and unvested stock options” that were allotted to her under the bank’s retirement acceptance letter. She wants permission to deal with the 6,90,000 shares that she holds, for which she paid full consideration.

Chanda Kochhar alleged that she has been restrained from dealing with her shares and that the high court failed to appreciate that ICICI Bank had no contractual or legal basis to assert a claim.

The appeal said that Chanda Kochhar, who was once “rated as the most powerful woman” and the recipient of the highest civilian award Padma Bhushan is suffering grave persecution and harassment at the age of 62 years, the report added.

Chanda Kochhar’s remuneration was denied and the bonuses as well as ESOPs clawed back for her alleged role in quid pro quo loans of Rs 3,250 crore to Videocon Group, who had in turn benefited her husband Deepak Kochhar and his company.

The Supreme Court will hear her matter after two weeks.

The Kochhars, along with Venugopal Dhoot, Deepak Kochhar’s Nupower Renewables (NRL), Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd, and Videocon Industries Limited, have been named as accused in the FIR by CBI. The Kochhars and Dhoot, were arrested in December 2022, but are out on bail at present.

The investigating agency had stated that Kochhar violated the bank’s norms and sanctioned the loans to Videocon group of companies between 2009 and 2011 during her tenure as CEO and MD. It said that it is a case of conflict of interest and breach of trust.

Also read: ICICI-Videocon loan fraud: ‘Chanda Kochhar disclosed Videocon links to husband's firm only after Sebi query in 2018'

Also read: ICICI Bank-Videocon case: Chanda Kochhar reportedly paid tax for family trust after start of CBI probe