A recent ruling by an appellate tribunal has found Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO of ICICI Bank, guilty of accepting a bribe of ₹64 crore in exchange for approving a ₹300 crore loan to the Videocon Group. The tribunal stated that this payment, made through her husband from the Videocon group, was a quid pro quo for sanctioning the loan. The tribunal's order, dated July 3, criticized the previous relief given to Kochhar and validated the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) attachment of assets.

The case revolves around allegations that between June 2009 and October 2011, ICICI Bank, under Kochhar's leadership, sanctioned loans totaling ₹1,875 crore to companies associated with the Videocon Group. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleges that Kochhar abused her position by approving a ₹3,250 crore loan to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL), owned by Venugopal Dhoot, in return for illegal gratification and undue benefit to NuPower Renewables Private Limited (NRPL), a company owned by her husband, Deepak Kochhar.

The ED alleges that the Kochhars received a ₹64 crore bribe from Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot on August 27, 2009, just a day after ICICI Bank disbursed ₹300 crore to VIEL. According to the CBI, after the loan was sanctioned, Dhoot invested ₹64 crore into Nupower Renewables, a company managed by Deepak Kochhar, as part of a quid pro quo arrangement. The agency's chargesheet also asserts that a flat at CCI Chambers, owned by the Videocon Group, was sold to Deepak Kochhar's family trust for a mere ₹11 lakhs, while its actual value was ₹5.25 crore.

The appellate tribunal criticized Kochhar for not disclosing her conflict of interest while sanctioning the loan and for failing to recuse herself from the bank's sanctioning panel that cleared urgent loans to the Videocon Group. The tribunal rejected Kochhar's claims that she was unaware of her husband's business dealings, stating that she "cannot plead ignorance" about his association with the conglomerate. It further added that the ₹64 crore transferred by the Videocon Group to Deepak Kochhar's company immediately after ICICI Bank cleared the ₹300 crore loan was a "quid pro quo".

In January 2020, the ED provisionally attached the Kochhars' assets worth ₹78 crore, terming them proceeds of crime. These properties included their flat at CCI Chambers in Church Gate, Mumbai, where Chanda Kochhar resides, and cash worth ₹10.5 lakh. The recent tribunal ruling upholds the ED's seizure of these assets, overturning an earlier dismissal by a Mumbai adjudicating authority and affirming that there is a “prima facie” money laundering case against the Kochhars.

In December 2022, the CBI arrested Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, in connection with the case. Venugopal Dhoot was also arrested. While the Bombay High Court granted them interim bail in January 2023, describing their arrest as "routine, without application of mind, and an abuse of power," the Supreme Court has since issued a notice to the Kochhars on a plea filed by the CBI against the High Court order. The CBI alleges that loans totaling ₹300 crore were approved in 2009 when Chanda Kochhar was in charge of the sanctioning committee. The agency claims that ICICI Bank broke its own policies by authorizing six loans totaling ₹1,875 crore to Videocon Group companies between June 2009 and October 2011. These loans were declared non-performing assets in 2012, resulting in a loss of ₹1,730 crore for the bank.