ICICI Loan Fraud Case: Bombay High Court grants interim bail to Venugopal Dhoot

Bombay High Court grants interim bail to Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot on Friday in the alleged loan fraud case related to the ICICI Bank.

Earlier on 13 January, Venugopal Dhoot’s lawyer Sandeep Ladda had filed this petition on the same grounds as the Kochhar couple and the Bombay High Court reserved the order on a writ petition.

The Videocon chairman’s advocate further said: “As CBI said, they arrested him because he [Venugopal Dhoot] was not cooperating with the investigation, but it is not the case. Dhoot has always cooperated in the proceedings of the case.”

Seeking Dhoot’s release his lawyer had moved a petition in the Bombay High Court to release Dhoot on medical grounds.

Advocate Ladda mentioned that there is a blockage in his client Venugopal Dhoot’s heart and wants an immediate investigation.

“He even appeared 31 times as and when summons were sent to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). What could be the reason that it was not the ED but the CBI which has arrested him,” Advocate Ladda said.

Earlier on 10 January in an alleged multi-crore money laundering scam the release of former ICICI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar accused were released from Arthur Road Jail on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on 9 January while observing the arrest of the Kochhar couple the court said “not in accordance with the law” and from the judicial custody they have been allowed to release on a cash bail of Rs 1 lakh each.

Moreover, to the Videocon Group six loans were sanctioned worth Rs 1,875 crore between June 2009 and October 2011, CBI found during its preliminary inquiry.

However, in 2012 the agency said that the loans were declared non-performing assets which caused a loss of Rs 1,730 crore to the bank.