Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been found guilty of accepting a Rs 64 crore bribe in exchange for approving a Rs 300 crore loan to the Videocon Group. An appellate tribunal delivered the order on July 3, 2025, confirming a quid pro quo arrangement where the funds were routed through her husband, Deepak Kochhar's company, NuPower Renewables (NRPL). The tribunal's ruling overturned a previous decision that had granted relief to Kochhar and her associates by releasing attached assets.
The case revolves around a Rs 3,250 crore loan sanctioned by ICICI Bank to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL) between 2009 and 2011, when Chanda Kochhar was the Managing Director. Investigations revealed that ICICI Bank broke its own policies by approving six loans totaling Rs 1,875 crore to Videocon Group-affiliated companies during that period. These loans were declared non-performing assets in 2012, resulting in a loss of Rs 1,730 crore for the bank.
The appellate tribunal emphasized that the Rs 64 crore bribe was transferred from Videocon's company, SEPL, to NRPL, a firm managed by Deepak Kochhar, a day after ICICI Bank disbursed the Rs 300 crore loan. While NRPL was nominally owned by Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot, the tribunal stressed that Deepak Kochhar held actual control of the company. The tribunal stated that the money trail served as direct evidence of the quid pro quo.
Furthermore, the tribunal found Chanda Kochhar guilty of failing to disclose her husband's business links with the Videocon Group while serving on the loan sanctioning committee, thereby violating the bank's conflict of interest rules. The tribunal criticized the adjudicating authority's November 2020 decision to release attached assets belonging to Kochhar and her associates, stating that it "ignored crucial material facts and drew conclusions that contradict the record".
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had initially attached assets worth Rs 78 crore in the case. The tribunal backed the ED's position, asserting that the agency had justifiably attached the assets based on strong documentary evidence and a clear timeline of events. It concluded that the entire transaction – the loan sanction, fund transfer, and routing of money into Deepak Kochhar's firm – demonstrated a serious misuse of power and breach of ethical conduct. Among the assets now cleared for confiscation is a prime flat in Mumbai’s Churchgate, which the tribunal noted was routed through a network of Videocon-related companies and ended up in Kochhar’s family trust at an undervalued price.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, and Venugopal Dhoot in December 2022 in connection with the loan fraud. A chargesheet was filed in April 2023 against Kochhar, her husband, Dhoot, and six other individuals.
The case first came to light in 2016 when whistleblower Arvind Gupta raised concerns about the loan to Videocon in exchange for financial favors to the Kochhar family. Gupta's letter highlighted the suspicious transfer of Rs 64 crore from Videocon to NuPower Renewables. The tribunal's recent ruling reinforces the allegations of quid pro quo and validates the ED's actions in seizing assets linked to the case.
