Grab Your Popcorn: While Kocchar Hires A Lawyer To Defend Her, SEBI Begins Proceedings Against Videocon CEO

ICICI Bank may withdraw all the bonuses paid to Chanda Kocchar, former CEO of the bank after she was indicted by the Justice BN Srikrishna-led committee which found her guilty of violating financial propriety, reports Economic Times (ET).

In response, Kocchar hired a lawyer to defend herself against the indictment and the proposed retrieval of bonuses/stock options by the bank.

“We are yet to receive a copy of the Srikrishna report. Only after we receive a copy will we decide on our next course of action,” said Somasekhar Sundaresan, an independent counsel and former head of the securities law and financial sector regulatory practice at J Sagar Associates. Sundaresan will represent Kocchar in the courts. .

According to an analysis, while the value of Kocchar’s unvested, vested and unexercised stock options stands at Rs 343 crore, she was paid cash bonuses to the tune of Rs 10.12 crore. Thus, she might be liable to pay a total of Rs 353.12 crore to ICICI Bank.

Parallel Probe

Also, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in a separate investigation, has begun adjudication proceedings against Videocon Industries (VIL) and its chairman Venugopal Dhoot for allegedly indulging in fraudulent transactions with Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kocchar and his companies.

If his indictment comes through, the bank and Kocchar might be liable to pay a “monetary penalty.”

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