Unsatisfied with answers, ED may summon Kochhars again

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate is likely to summon former ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband again, as the agency isn’t satisfied with their answers during previous questioning over its probe in a money laundering case, people in the know said.

Chanda and Deepak Kochhar are likely to be asked to appear before the central agency next week along with certain documents, the people said.

The ED and CBI are probing possible quid pro quo in loan transactions between the Videocon Group and ICICI Bank when Chanda Kochhar was the bank’s CEO. This ED had already summoned the former banker and her husband twice in the case.


Meanwhile, the adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has sent show-cause notices to Chanda Kochhar, Videocon chairman VN Dhoot and eight others as to why it should not confirm the provisional attachments of certain articles that the ED had seized.

“During the searches, the agency had seized Chanda Kochhar’s laptop and other documents.

She has been sent a show-cause notice by the adjudicating authority … She has the legal recourse to file an appeal before the PMLA appellate tribunal,” said one of the people in the know.

Kochhars’ counsel, Vijay Aggarwal, refused to comment on the developments.