Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar was freed from jail, one day after the Bombay High Court ruled that her arrest was unlawful and commanded that both she and her husband be released.
She, along with her husband Deepak Kochhar, was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 23 in a case linked to alleged irregularities in an over Rs 3,000-crore loan provided to the Videocon Group when she was heading the private sector bank.
The relief comes just days before her son's wedding on January 15.
The couple was arrested after four years after filing the case, according to the court's ruling, which stated that the required justification was not included in the arrest papers. The arrest papers' justification for the petitioners' detention, it stated, "clearly violates the obligatory provisions."
The High Court said that just because "an accused does not confess, it cannot be said that the accused have not co-operated with the investigation."
The Kochhars had previously contended in court that the agency's decision to launch this inquiry without the necessary authorization under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act rendered their arrest unconstitutional. Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman of the Videocon Group, was also arrested by the CBI in the ICICI loan case.