CBI custody of Kochhars and Venugopal Dhoot extended in Videocon loan case

Special public prosecutor A Limosin submitted that the three accused were required to be interrogated thoroughly on the voluminous documents involved in the case and “to unearth criminal conspiracy with other unknown public servants and unknown private persons”. Though the CBI was on Monday granted their custody for three days, till Wednesday, the prosecutor said, the accused were in court till 6pm and reached the CBI office only at 8pm and therefore the investigation could not be carried out on the first day.

Counsel for the Kochhar couple, Kushal Mor and Rohan Dakshini, opposed the remand stating that the CBI had given no new reasons to seek the extension. It was also submitted that the arrests were illegal as they did not have the mandatory sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Dhoot’s counsel, S S Ladda, too opposed the custody extension stating that no new material on the probe over the past three days had been shown to the court.

The special court, however, said the offence was serious and granted one more day’s time to the CBI.

The CBI has alleged that between 2009 and 2011, ICICI Bank sanctioned a rupee term loan of Rs 1,875 crore to six companies of Videocon Group. The CBI claimed that out of these six loans, Kochhar was on the committee in two, including one of Rs 300 crore, and alleged that there were irregularities with Dhoot as the “ultimate beneficiary”.