SC adjourns hearing until Jan 12 on CBI plea against bail to Chanda Kochhar

The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred until January 12 the hearing of the CBI’s plea challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in a loan fraud case.

A bench comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal adjourned the matter noting that the Bombay High Court was due to hear Kochhar’s case on January 5 against ICICI Bank’s approval to prosecute her.

“It is stated by the counsel for the respondents that the main writ petitions are fixed for hearing before the High Court on January 5. It is expected that the same shall be heard by the High Court on that date and neither of the parties shall ask for the adjournments before the said Court. List the matters on January 12,” the bench said.

The bench had on October 16 sought a response from the Kochhars on the CBI’s petition challenging the interim bail granted to them in the case by the Bombay High Court.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju had said the high court proceeded on a wrong presumption that the offence was punishable with a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment without considering section 409 of the IPC (criminal breach of trust by public servant), which entails a sentence that could range from 10 years to life imprisonment.

The bench had asked Raju as to how section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of the IPC came into play when ICICI was a private bank. The law officer had replied that the bank may be private but the matter involves public money.

Later, the top court had pulled up the probe agency for not objecting to repeated extension of the two-week interim bail granted to Chanda Kochhar and her husband.

The Bombay High Court had on January 9 this year granted bail to the couple, saying their arrest was not in accordance with the provisions of law. The CBI appealed against it in the top court.

A day after bail was granted, Chanda Kochhar walked out of the Byculla women’s prison in Mumbai, while her husband was released from the Arthur Road jail.