The Bombay High Court has recently granted interim relief to businessperson Deepak Kochhar, preventing coercive actions by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
This development comes after the government directed the SFIO in July 2021 to investigate Videocon Industries and its 12 group companies.
Following a 3-year hiatus, the SFIO summoned Kochhar for questioning this month, which lasted from 10:45 AM to 10:10 PM.
Kochhar is scheduled to appear before the SFIO again on October 28, prompting his petition to the High Court due to concerns of potential arrest.
His legal team, including Senior Counsel Amit Desai and Advocate Ashwin Thool, argued for urgent interim relief, highlighting that Kochhar, a senior citizen, was detained and questioned late into the night, violating his fundamental rights. They requested that any questioning occur only during regular business hours.
The High Court noted that while Special Public Prosecutor for the SFIO, Manisha Jagtap, was given time to confirm whether the agency intended to take coercive measures against Kochhar, she reported no instructions on this matter.
However, she assured the court that Kochhar would not be questioned outside of working hours, and the court accepted this assurance.
The High Court has requested the SFIO to respond to Kochhar’s petition within two weeks, scheduling the next hearing for November 13. Kochhar maintains that he is neither a director nor a shareholder of the companies under investigation and asserts his cooperation, having previously been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2018.
The investigation relates to a preliminary inquiry initiated by the CBI in 2017 regarding a loan sanctioned by ICICI Bank, linked to a ₹64 crore investment by V. N. Dhoot into Kochhar’s company, Nupower Renewables Ltd (NRL).
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan granted Kochhar interim protection from coercive measures while postponing the matter until after the Diwali vacation. In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate had initiated its own investigation concerning the ₹64 crore investment and a luxury flat in CCI Chambers, South Mumbai.
Although Kochhar cooperated with the ED, he was arrested on September 7, 2020, and secured bail in March 2021. The Supreme Court later dismissed the ED’s plea against this bail in January 2022.
Kochhar was arrested by the CBI on December 23, 2022, but was granted bail in February 2023, arguing that the grounds for his arrest were unfounded and illegal.
Kochhar is the husband of Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank.
