Videocon case: ICICI Bank weighs leave for Chanda Kochhar till probe report

The ICICI board, which consists of 12 members, is divided on whether Kochhar should be on leave during the internal enquiry

ICICI Bank Chairman M K Sharma has written an email to board members seeking their opinion on whether Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar should be asked to go on indefinite leave until the internal enquiry is concluded, said people in the know.

“In an email sent to board members last week, Sharma asked board members whether they agreed that Kochhar should go on indefinite leave until the ICICI Bank-constituted enquiry is completed to have a fair outcome,” said one of the persons cited above.

Kochhar is on her planned annual leave, the bank had said on June 1.

The ICICI Bank board had come out in support of Chanda Kochhar on March 28, quashing allegations of a quid pro quo and favouritism in giving a loan to the Videocon group, which, in turn, had invested in Chanda’s husband Deepak Kochhar’s company NuPower Renewables.

The initiation of probes by multiple agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, income-tax department, and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and a subsequent complaint from an anonymous whistle-blower led to the board’s decision to conduct an independent probe.

“This may have prompted Sharma to ask the board on whether Kochhar should go on extended leave,” said one of the sources.

Some of the board members are of the view that Kochhar should resume office after her leave so as to not cause any uncertainty among shareholders.

“Since the events are already recorded and possibly cannot be altered, requesting Kochhar to proceed on leave at this point in time may send the wrong signal to stakeholders, especially after the board had showed full confidence and faith in her when the issue first broke out,” one of the board members told Business Standard.

An email sent to ICICI Bank did not elicit response. Sharma, too, did not respond to text messages and phone calls.

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