Coal scam case: Next hearing on 10 Dec
The charge framing is once again deferred in the high profile coal scam case in CBI Special Court in Asansol today as one of the main accused Bikash Mishra was not present in the court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered a case against former ICICI CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a Rs 3,250 crore loan case.
It is alleged that the accused sanctioned certain loans to private companies in a criminal conspiracy with other accused to cheat the ICICI Bank.
Earlier in the day, the CBI conducted raids at four locations in Mumbai, and Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Searches were carried out at Videocon’s Mumbai office as well.
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Chanda Kochhar stepped down in October last year after she was accused of conflicts of interest, lack of disclosures and quid pro quo while extending loans to the now-bankrupt Videocon Industries.
The probe agency had registered a preliminary enquiry against her husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group officials and others for its probe to determine any wrongdoing or otherwise in the sanction of the loan to the Videocon Group by the ICICI Bank as part of a consortium of banks in 2012.
It is alleged that Venugopal Dhoot had given a loan of Rs 64 crore to NuPower Renewables, a company founded by Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar, six months after his group got the Rs 3,250 crore loan.
The CBI had said the money was part of a loan of Rs 40,000 crore which Videocon received from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India.
The expose was based on a complaint filed by a whistleblower, who flagged Kochhar’s alleged impropriety and conflict of interest in a letter to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.
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