ICICI Bank board acted in haste, says Kirit Somaiya
ICICI Bank board acted in haste, says Kirit Somaiya
BJP MP from Mumbai North East Kirit Somaiya has called for a review of the “clean chit” given to ICICI Bank’s managing director and chief executive officer, Chanda Kochhar, by its board on charges of nepotism, in the face of an “aggressive investigation” by government agencies on the dealings of the bank and charges of conflict of interest in the disbursal of loans.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Somaiya said that he had been following the case, involving a ₹3,250-crore bank loan extended by the ICICI Bank to Videocon in 2012, and was in touch with the RBI, and felt the Board acted in haste while giving a clean chit to Ms. Kochhar.
“Arms length is expected in dealings as you go more and more up the career ladder, but here it seems to have been violated,” he said.
A coincidence?
He specifically pointed to the questioning of Rajiv Kochhar, Ms. Kochhar’s brother-in-law, in connection with the Avista Advisory Group’s role in refinancing of foreign currency-denominated debt of companies that were also borrowers of the ICICI Bank.
“All of this cannot be treated as a coincidence, that a certain company becomes a financial liaison between the loanee and the lender in most big transactions. Is it based on professional expertise or personal relationship?” queried Mr. Somaiya.
He described his locus standi on the issues on the basis of the fact that he “held a Ph.D on issues related to investor protection from Mumbai University, and as an investor, an MP .”
His reservations followed a letter written by another BJP MP, Udit Raj, to CBI director, Alok Verma, demanding that an FIR be lodged against Ms. Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar.
BJP MP from Mumbai North East Kirit Somaiya has called for a review of the “clean chit” given to ICICI Bank’s managing director and chief executive officer, Chanda Kochhar, by its board on charges of nepotism, in the face of an “aggressive investigation” by government agencies on the dealings of the bank and charges of conflict of interest in the disbursal of loans.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Somaiya said that he had been following the case, involving a ₹3,250-crore bank loan extended by the ICICI Bank to Videocon in 2012, and was in touch with the RBI, and felt the Board acted in haste while giving a clean chit to Ms. Kochhar.
“Arms length is expected in dealings as you go more and more up the career ladder, but here it seems to have been violated,” he said.
A coincidence?
He specifically pointed to the questioning of Rajiv Kochhar, Ms. Kochhar’s brother-in-law, in connection with the Avista Advisory Group’s role in refinancing of foreign currency-denominated debt of companies that were also borrowers of the ICICI Bank.
“All of this cannot be treated as a coincidence, that a certain company becomes a financial liaison between the loanee and the lender in most big transactions. Is it based on professional expertise or personal relationship?” queried Mr. Somaiya.
He described his locus standi on the issues on the basis of the fact that he “held a Ph.D on issues related to investor protection from Mumbai University, and as an investor, an MP .”
His reservations followed a letter written by another BJP MP, Udit Raj, to CBI director, Alok Verma, demanding that an FIR be lodged against Ms. Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar.