Bombay High Court Refuses Ex-ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochchar's Post-Retirement Plea

The Bombay High Court has refused to provide interim relief to former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's post-retirement plea. The single bench of Justice RI Chagla has also asked Ms Kochhar not to touch the 6.90 lakh shares she acquired in 2018, reported news agency PTI.  The Bench has said that Ms Kochhar must disclose if she made any past dealings related to the shares. "If she has dealt with any shares, then she must disclose the same on affidavit in six weeks," the Judge said. Justice Gahla also stated that Ms Kochhar's termination was valid, the report added. "I have held the termination as valid termination," Justice Chagla said. Citing the reasons, Justice Chagla added, "ICICI Bank did not have complete knowledge of the facts, including the non-disclosures by Ms Kochhar (at the time of her resignation)...these facts were disclosed only on receipt of the inquiry report. I have held that the termination was a valid termination and Ms Kochhar didn't come to court with clean hands."  Ms Kochhar had requested special benefits from her employer in 2018, added the report. Back then, the Central Board of Investigation had accused Ms Kochchar of criminal conspiracy and cheating for alleged irregularities in a loan of ₹ 3,250 crores in 2012 to the Videocon Group. This legacy firm has become a non-performing asset for the ICICI Bank. The ICICI bank had said that Ms Kochchar violated the company's code of conduct and internal policies.