This refers to he editorial, “Problems at ICICI” (March 31). When the head of an institution is in the spot, it is but expected that the entire system will try and defend the boss. It is not, therefore, surprising that ICICI Bank has stepped up in defence of Chanda Kochhar. Ms Kochhar, who is known for her extra ordinary contribution in taking retail banking to all together different level, ICICI bank in particular and banking sector in general, is facing conflict of interest charges by one of the investors of ICICI bank and Videocon group. In her more than three decades of career with ICICI group, she has always been one of the strongest pillar and proformer.
ICICI bank board has given clean chit to her and mentioned that the committee which approved videocon loan was not chaired by Ms Kochhar, and has many independent directors and the time of sanctioning of the loan to Videocon group did not possess any share of NuPower, a company owned by her husband Deepak Kochhar. But there are many unanswered questions: What was the collateral and loan guarantee to Videocon group's loan facilityIJ Dis Ms Kochhar make all her routine disclosure in accordance with companies and banking actIJ What was the need to sanction a loan to a company of Cayman IslandsIJ If stakeholders are not convinced with the board's response, then an investigation must be done by an independent third party. At this juncture these are just allegations and if found true then it is a serious blot on the bank's corporate governance practices. At a time when banking sector is going through its worse period, it is more than essential that both Ms Kochhar and the bank come clean on this issue.