19 February,2024 11:45 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Bombay High Court/ File Photo
The Bombay High Court has chastised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for what it called an "abuse of power" in the arrest of Chanda Kochhar, the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank, and her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with the ICICI-Videocon loan case.
In an order released on Monday, a division bench of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and NR Borkar criticised the CBI's arrest of Kochhars, claiming that it was done "without application of mind and due regard to the law", reported PTI.
Reportedly, the court emphasised that the CBI failed to offer evidence or circumstances justifying the arrests in the ICICI-Videocon loan case, therefore making them illegal. It emphasised that routine arrests without a valid legal basis constitute an abuse of authority.
"Such routine arrest without application of mind and due regard to the law amounts to an abuse of power," the court said, per PTI report.
Rejecting the CBI's claim that the Kochhars' arrest was owing to their claimed refusal to cooperate with the investigation, the court supported the accused's right to remain silent during interrogation, citing Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution, which protects against self-incrimination, the PTI report added.
"The right to silence emanates from Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution, which gives an accused the right against self-incrimination. Suffice it to say that exercise of the right to remain silent cannot be equated with non-cooperation," it said in the order.
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According to the report, the Kochhars were arrested on December 23, 2022, concerning the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan issue. They instantly filed a high court challenge, requesting that their arrest be declared unconstitutional and that they be allowed bail in an interim ruling on January 9, 2023.
The court's judgement on February 6 emphasised the adoption of section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to prevent arbitrary arrests and the importance of being sensible when depriving people of their liberty, the report added.
"The court can consider whether the reasons for deprivation of liberty are rational, reasonable or fanciful," it said.
The court, after observing that Kochhars were only called for interrogation in 2022 in spite of FIR being registered in 2019, said, "Despite the gravity of the offence, the petitioners (Kochhars) were not interrogated or summoned for a period of over three years from the date of registration of the crime."
The CBI said that ICICI Bank provided credit facilities to Videocon Group entities in contravention of banking laws. It also accused the Kochhars of engaging in a quid pro quo plan with Videocon's founder, Venugopal Dhoot, the report added. Dhoot was also arrested in the ICICI-Videocon loan case, but the HC granted him bail in January 2023. The investigation agency accused ICICI Bank of providing credit facilities to Videocon Group entities in breach of regulations, it further stated.
