HC restrains SFIO from taking coercive action against Deepak Kochhar | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday restrained the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) from taking coercive action against businessman Deepak Kochhar, husband of former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar. Deepak had approached the High Court seeking directions to the SFIO to restrict his interrogation to office hours. He was embroiled in the Videocon-ICICI loan case and filed his plea after being interrogated by the SFIO for almost 12 hours from morning to late evening on October 22.

The background of the investigation dates back to allegations surrounding a ₹Loan of Rs 1,875 crore provided by ICICI Bank to Videocon Industries Ltd and its subsidiaries, granted during Chanda Kochhar’s tenure as MD and CEO. The investigation, launched in July 2021, saw Deepak Kochhar summoned for lengthy questioning, with another session scheduled for October 28.

Concerned about the intensity and duration of the interrogations, Kochhar claimed that the lengthy interrogation violated his rights as an elderly person. His counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, argued that questioning individuals for long periods of time could be considered an unnecessary burden.

He asked the SFIO to follow the guidelines recently issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which stipulates that interrogations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) should take place only during office hours.

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Rohit Wasudeo Joshi granted interim relief to Kocchar and ordered the SFIO not to take coercive action against him. This temporary guarantee was given after SFIO’s counsel assured the court that the interrogation would be limited to office hours, in line with the ED directive that emphasizes respect for the right to adequate rest during the investigation.

The court’s decision has now put a temporary hold on all aggressive action against Kochhar until the case resumes on November 13. interrogation hours in high-stakes corporate fraud cases.