Chanda and Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI on Friday night after a brief questioning session. Venugopal Dhoot,71, was arrested in the loan fraud case on Monday morning. All three were produced before special court judge AS Sayyad. The Central Bureau of Investigation, represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin, sought three-day custody to confront all the accused.
During the hearing, Deepak Kochhar's advocate Vikram Chaudhary argued that the remand did not mention how and why Deepak Kochhar was not cooperating during the investigation. "In the remand, it is said that Deepak Kochhar was not cooperating in the investigation but nothing is explained about how and why," he said.
His advocate further said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has already conducted an investigation in the loan fraud case. He argued the probe in the loan fraud case went on for six months but Deepak was arrested only after he got bail.
Vikram Chaudhary further alleged that Deepak Kochhar was arrested in an inhumane manner and the agency needs to explain his arrest.
"Deepak Kochhar got bail in the ED case. The agency approached the Supreme Court challenging my client's bail but it refused to intervene. My client was arrested in an inhumane manner at a time when his son's marriage has been fixed. This is illegal.The arrest of Deepak Kochhar needs to be explained. It was not a routine arrest," said Chaudhary.
"It is a 2017 case. If they think that my client committed a crime, why did they not arrest him for 5 years? This is blatant misuse of power and a violation of my client's fundamental rights," said Chaudhary.
Amit Desai, the advocate for Chanda Kochhar, told the court that there is no instance where the CBI filed a chargesheet against his client and she was found guilty as charged. "The CBI did not investigate for two days. How can it then say that my client is not cooperating?" Desai said.
In its chargesheet in the loan fraud case, the CBI said, "Dhoot has not disclosed full and true facts and for making proper investigation and taking the case to the logical end. He is required to be confronted with Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar."
The loan fraud case against Deepak and Chanda Kochhar is in connection with the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanction of a ₹1,875 crore loan disbursed by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group between 2009 and 2011.
(With agency inputs)
