The Bombay High Court today granted interim bail to Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot, nearly a month after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rs 3,250 crore ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud case. Mr Dhoot was arrested days after former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar were arrested in the same case.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and PK Chavan granted him bail on a surety of Rs 1 lakh. The court permitted him to furnish cash bail and then deposit the surety amount two weeks later. It also refused the CBI's request to stay its order so that the probe agency could approach the Supreme Court in appeal.
The court also dismissed an application filed by an advocate seeking to intervene in the matter and for the bench to recall its earlier order granting bail to the Kochhars. The bench imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the advocate.
Mr Dhoot had approached the high court on January 10 after the same bench granted bail to the Kochhars. The couple was arrested on December 23, 2022.
Mr Dhoot's argued that his arrest was unwarranted as he was cooperating with the probe.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on the other hand, claimed that he was trying to avoid the investigation. The High Court had heard the arguments and closed it for orders on January 13.
Mr Dhoot had moved the High Court seeking the dismissal of the First Information Report, and also sought interim bail.
In his plea, Dhoot termed his arrest by CBI as "arbitrary, illegal, done without following due procedure of law and in gross violation of section 41 (A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which mandates for a notice to be issued to accused to join the probe and to make an arrest only if absolutely necessary".
In its order granting interim bail to the Kochhars, the High Court had come down heavily on the CBI for making the arrest in a "casual and mechanical" manner and without application of mind.
Chanda Kochhar, 59, had quit as CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank in October 2018 over allegations that she favoured the Videocon Group, a consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration company.
The CBI has alleged that private sector lender ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of Rs 3,250 crore to the companies of Videocon Group promoted by Mr Dhoot in violation of the Banking Regulation Act, Reserve Bank of India's guidelines, and credit policy of the bank.
The CBI had named Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar as well as Mr Dhoot along with Nupower Renewables (NRL) managed by Deepak Kochhar, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd as accused in the FIR registered in 2019 under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It further alleged that as a part of quid pro quo, Dhoot made an investment of Rs 64 crore in Nupower Renewables through Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL), and transferred SEPL to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar through a circuitous route between 2010 and 2012.
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