ICICI case : Just a day after signing FIR against Chanda Kochhar, probe officer was transferred

SP Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra who had signed the FIR related to Kochhar, was transferred to the agency’s Economic Offences Branch in Ranchi just a day after he took the step. This happened two days before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took swipe at the probe agency.

Chanda Kochhar/ Image: PTI

New Delhi: Just a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked Dhoots of the Videocon group along with Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank and her husband Deepak, for alleged cheating and conspiracy, the officer investigating it was transferred. SP Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra who had signed the FIR related to Kochhar on January 22, was transferred on January 23.  He was part of the Banking and Securities Fraud Cell (BSFC) of the CBI. He was transferred to the agency’s Economic Offences Branch in Ranchi just a day after he took the step. This happened two days before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took swipe at the probe agency. On January 25, Jaitley went on social media against the CBI FIR suggesting it was targeting “investigative adventurism” and not “professional investigation.” Jaitley,recuperating after a surgery in a hospital in the U.S., had tweeted that one of the reasons for the "poor"conviction rate in India is that "adventurism and megalomania" overtakes investigators and professionalism takes a back seat. He had advised the investigators to “avoid adventurism and follow the advice given to Arjun in the Mahabharata – Just concentrate on the bulls eye”. CBI had booked Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank and her husband Deepak Kocchar, along with the Dhoots of the Videocon group for alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the now crippled Videocon Group and other group entities. In the FIR, Videocon Industries was mentioned as located on the 17th floor of the B-Wing of the Mittal Court complex, while group entities like Videocon Industries, Videocon International Electronics and four other entities are located on the 17th floor of the C-Wing of the same building. The other companies on the 17th floor of the C-Wing include Videocon Games, Chhattisgarh Power Ventures, Prosperous Energy, and VOVL. Interestingly all these companies were not mentioned in the FIR filed by the CBI. It could also not be established immediately whether these companies are indeed Videocon group entities. The FIR named Videocon International Electronics, Videocon Industries, VN Dhoot, the group managing director; Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Kochhar, the head of Nupower Renewables and the company Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, other unknown private persons and Unknown public servants. The agency has levelled Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act on all the accused. It is alleged that Dhoot had invested in Deepak Kochhar's company Nupower through his firm Supreme Energy a quid pro quo to loans cleared by the ICICI Bank after Chanda Kochhar took over as the CEO of the bank on May 1, 2009.