Setback for Chanda Kochhar, SC refuses to entertain her plea for retirement benefits
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain tainted former ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar‘s plea seeking retirement benefits from the bank. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti said, “Not a case for interference. We are not inclined to interfere with the High Court order. The special leave petition is dismissed.”
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Chanda Kochhar argued that the High Court had dismissed the petition without any discussion or finding. The bench said it has seen the facts involved and the case does not warrant any interference. Chanda Kochhar has challenged the Bombay High Court’s May 3 order, which dismissed her petition saying grant of any interim relief to her would cause irreparable damage and prejudice to the bank.
Meanwhile, another top court bench headed by Justice Bela M Trivedi adjourned the hearing on a separate plea filed by CBI challenging the grant of interim bail to Chanda Kochhar. The plea of the probe agency will now be heard on December 11. In her plea seeking retirement benefits from ICICI Bank, Kochhar has referred to various documents and orders of the court and said no prima facie case was found in the suit filed by the bank.
Her plea before the top court also referred to the November 2022 order passed by the single-judge bench of the high court. The single-judge bench of the high court had directed Kochhar to not deal with the bank’s Rs.6.90 lakh shares she had acquired in 2018. In her plea before the high court, Kochhar sought specific performance of the entitlements and benefits unconditionally provided to her when the bank accepted her early retirement in 2018. The bank could not have terminated a person who had already retired, the plea said. The benefits granted to her unconditionally included employee stock options that were exercisable till 2028.
In May 2018, the bank initiated an inquiry against Chanda Kochhar following a complaint about her role in granting out-of-turn loans worth Rs 3,900 crore to the Videocon Group that benefited her husband Deepak Kochhar. Kochhar went on leave thereafter and later applied for early retirement, which was accepted. The bank had then said it treated her separation as ‘Termination for Cause‘ and also sought regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India for her termination of appointment as is mandatory under the provisions of the RBI Act.
Chanda Kochhar was exposed by PGurus’ detailed report on March 25, 2018, on how she and her husband received huge kickbacks by giving loans of Rs.3900 crore to Videocon. Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar got more than Rs.325 crore as kickback in this dubious loan deal with Videocon.[1]
Reference:
[1] ICICI Bank head Chanda Kochhar and husband on the radar of probe agencies for doubtful loans to debt-ridden Videocon Group? – Mar 25, 2018, PGurus.com
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