Over the claim of an “illegal arrest by CBI,” Chanda Kochhar’s husband was told to move the HC again.

The Bombay High Court rejected Chanda Kochhar’s and Deepak Kochhar’s challenge to the CBI’s (Central Bureau of Investigation) arrest in the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, citing it as an “illegal move.” Chanda Kochhar was the former managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank. The couple was informed by the vacation bench that it would not be participating in the case and that they would need to approach a regular bench when the court reopens following the vacation.

The alleged irregularities in the loans given to Venugopal Dhoot’s Videocon Group led to their arrests last week. The Kochhars stated that they were arrested without prior authorization under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) as they approached the high court. The petitioners also sought the court’s direction to annul and overturn the remand order. The vacation bench of the HC, on the other hand, stated that there was no urgency and that the petitioners could contact the regular court on January 2.

The CBI’s first information report (FIR) against the couple was also challenged and set aside by the couple. The CBI also detained Venugopal Dhoot on Monday for allegedly paying bribes to former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in exchange for loans to his businesses.

In 2018, Kochhar resigned from his position as chief executive amid intensifying investigations. As HT previously reported, the Enforcement Directorate, which is also involved in the investigation, has stated that it is looking into 24 loans totaling 7,862 crore that it believes ICICI Bank loaned to the Videocon Group “illegally and criminally” when Chanda Kochhar was in charge of the bank between 2009 and 2018.

Before he was released on bail in March 2021, Kochhar’s husband was detained by the ED in September 2020.