ICICI's Videocon loan: CBI registers preliminary enquiry against Deepak Kochhar

The CBI registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and officials of Videocon in connection with the Videocon loan case on Saturday. Whistleblower Arvind Gupta on Friday said that Chanda Kochhar and her family benefited from the loan and demanded a thorough probe into the matter.

Deepak Kochhar, the founder of wind energy company NuPower Renewables, has been in the eye of a storm over his company's relationship with Videocon group, which received a loan in 2012 from ICICI Bank, headed by his wife Chanda Kochhar. "The transactions, however, were first highlighted by investor Arvind Gupta in 2016. Gupta wrote to the Prime Minister, the Reserve Bank of India governor and other authorities seeking an inquiry into the dealings. Gupta's complaint got little or no attention then," said reports. However, ICICI bank came out in full support of its chief executive Chanda Kochhar, rubbishing reports of wrongdoing in loans given to debt-laden Videocon. In Kochhar's defence, chairman MK Sharma said Kochhar was not head of the committee and large loans are approved by board's credit committee.