Bombay High Court grants interim bail to Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot in bank loan fraud case

Mumbai, January 20

The Bombay High Court granted interim bail to Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot on Friday, nearly a month after he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan fraud case.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and PK Chavan granted bail to Dhoot on a surety of Rs 1 lakh. The court permitted him to furnish cash bail and then deposit the surety amount two weeks thereafter.

The bench also refused the CBI’s request to stay its order so that it could approach the Supreme Court in appeal.

The court also dismissed an application filed by an advocate seeking to intervene in the matter and for the bench to recall its earlier order granting bail to two other accused in the case – Chanda Kochhar, former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the ICICI Bank, and her husband Deepak Kochhar.

The bench imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the advocate.

Dhoot had approached the high court on January 10 after the same bench granted bail to the Kochhars. The couple was arrested on December 23, 2022.

Dhoot’s advocate Sandeep Laddha had argued that Dhoot’s arrest was unwarranted as he had cooperated in the probe.

The CBI, however, opposed the same saying the Videocon Group founder had tried to avoid the probe and hence the arrest was legal.