Videocon Scam: Deepak and Chanda Kochhar Move Bombay High Court Against ED’s Property Attachment
Bombay High Court hears Kochhars’ plea against ED’s attachment of property in the Videocon money laundering case.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday heard a plea filed by former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s attachment of their properties in a money laundering case arising out of the Videocon scam.
A bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Shyam Chandak directed the ED to file its response. The matter will be taken up again on the next scheduled date.
The attachment of properties worth over Rs 70 crore was upheld under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA).
The ED had approached the SAFEMA Appellate Tribunal, which, in July 2025, overturned the Adjudicating Authority’s findings and confirmed the attachment, holding that there was sufficient prima facie evidence of money laundering and quid pro quo. It is this tribunal order that the Kochhars have now challenged before the High Court.
The Kochhars have argued that the attachment was confirmed without due regard to the Adjudicating Authority’s earlier conclusion that the ED had not established the properties as proceeds of crime. They submit that the tribunal’s reversal is legally unsustainable and disregards critical aspects of the record.
The tribunal had observed that a payment of Rs 64 crore made to NuPower Renewables, a company headed by Deepak Kochhar, amounted to an illicit benefit.
Investigating agencies have described this Rs 64 crore transaction as a quid pro quo, alleging that it followed the sanction of a Rs 300 crore loan by ICICI Bank to the Videocon Group while Chanda Kochhar was at its helm.
The petition contends that the tribunal overlooked key evidentiary gaps highlighted by the Adjudicating Authority and that the attachment violates statutory safeguards under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The court has sought the ED’s reply and will hear the matter further on 16 December.
Case Title: Deepak Kochhar & Ors. v. Enforcement Directorate & Ors.
Bench: Justices Bharti Dangre and Shyam Chandak
Date:10 Dec 2025
Inputs: India today