Arrest of Chanda Kochhar, Her Husband in Loan Fraud Case Amounted to Abuse of Power by CBI: HC

The arrest of ICICI Bank's former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a loan fraud case was "without application of mind and due regard to the law", amounting to an "abuse of power", the Bombay High Court has said.

A division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and N R Borkar had on February 6 held the Kochhars' arrest as illegal and confirmed a January 2023 interim order passed by another bench granting them bail.

In the order made available on Monday, the court said the CBI has been unable to demonstrate the existence of circumstances or supportive material based on which the decision to arrest was taken.