Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been granted bail on a bond of ₹ 5 lakh by a Mumbai court on Friday in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
Ms Kochhar, whose husband Deepak Kochhar was arrested in September last year in connection with the same case, cannot leave country without the permission of the court.
Early 2019 the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, had filed a criminal case against Ms Kochhar, Mr Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon Group under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to investigate alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in the sanctioning of ₹ 1,875 crore in loans by ICICI Bank.
The ED is also probing at least two other instances of loans given by ICICI Bank during Ms Kochhar’s tenure – to Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Sterling Biotech and to Bhushan Steel Group; both these too are being probed for alleged money laundering.
