ICICI seeks recovery of amounts from Kochhar

Mumbai: The ICICI bank has approached the Bombay High Court seeking effect to "termination of appointment" of Chanda Kochhar as its Managing Director and CEO, and also sought recovery of various amounts from her.

In a monetary suit filed on January 10, the bank sought dismissal of Kochhar's petition and stated that the issue can be decided in a commercial suit.

"ICICI has filed a suit seeking recovery of amounts towards the claw back of bonuses given to the petitioner (Kochhar) from April 2006 to March 2018 pursuant to the termination of the petitioner's services," the bank said in its affidavit.

A clawback is a provision in which incentive-based pay, like a bonus, is taken back from an employee by an employer following misconduct or declining profits.

The affidavit was submitted in response to a petition filed by Kochhar challenging her sacking, months after she voluntarily left the second largest private sector lender.

"On December 8, 2016, Kochhar executed a claw back agreement with the bank pursuant to which ICICI is entitled to a return of the previously paid variable pay or deferred variable pay from the petitioner in the event of a determination of a gross negligence or an integrity breach by Kochhar.

"The petitioner's conduct has caused substantial embarrassment to the bank and all the stake-holders, and has led to irreparable reputational loss to the bank," it stated.

The bank further stated that Kochhar flagrantly violated the ICICI Group Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. "The petitioner (Kochhar) deliberately committed violation with a malafide intent to obtain illegal benefits," it stated.