Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
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The conviction rate of CBI declined to 67.5 percent which is the lowest in last four years. Image Source: IANS
The CBI had stated in a statement following the filing of the FIR in 2019 that it was alleged that the accused sanctioned specific loans to private entities in a criminal conspiracy with others to defraud ICICI Bank.
Chanda Kochhar, the former CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, and her husband Deepak Kochhar went before the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, claiming that the CBI's arrest of them in connection with a loan fraud investigation was illegal. The Kochhars were told to bring up the matter before the regular bench once it resumed after the holiday break after the court refused to grant an urgent hearing. According to a lawyer for the Kochhars, the CBI did not seek any prior sanctions before the couple was arrested, as required by law.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Chanda Kochhar, her husband and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group, along with companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries Limited, as accused in the FIR registered in 2019 under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Kochhar were arrested by the CBI on December 23, 2022 while Venugopal Dhoot was arrested on December 26, 2022.
It is alleged that Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot invested crores of rupees in Nupower months after the Videocon Group got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012, they said. The CBI had stated in a statement following the filing of the FIR in 2019 that it was alleged that the accused sanctioned specific loans to private entities in a criminal conspiracy with others to defraud ICICI Bank. It is claimed that between 2009 and 2011, six loans totaling Rs 1,875 crore were forgiven for the Videocon Group and its affiliated businesses while Chanda Kochhar was CEO of ICICI Bank. She served on the sanctioning committees in two instances. The loans were allegedly issued in violation of the bank's established standards and procedures.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), functioning under Dept. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances is the premier investigating police agency in India. It is also the nodal police agency in India, which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries. Recently, the Central Vigilance Commission which is the apex vigilance institution, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government published a report which sheds light on the conviction rate of the CBI. The CBI registered 680 regular cases and 67 preliminary enquiries last year, while it had registered 589 regular cases and 87 preliminary enquiries in 2020.
The chart below shows the conviction rate of CBI over the years.
Source: Central Vigilance Commission
The conviction rate of CBI witnessed a massive fall in the year 2015 as the agency’s conviction rate fell down from 69 percent in 2014 to 65 percent in 2015. Post 2015, CBI’s conviction rate witnessed a consistent rise till 2020. The year 2020 saw the highest conviction rate by the CBI. The conviction rate recorded in that year was 69.8 percent which was highest in last ten years but 2021 tells a different story as the conviction rate of CBI declined to 67.5 percent which is the lowest in last four years. In September 2021, the Supreme Court had ruled that the CBI was required to make sure that prosecution was carried out in addition to filing a case and conducting an investigation. It had rejected the CBI's argument that the success percentage of a lawsuit shouldn't be taken into account when evaluating its effectiveness in a country with an adversarial legal system like India. The low conviction rate signals that the irregularities in the investigation agency and the Indian judicial system too. Therefore, it is necessary for an investigating agency like CBI to maintain and increase its conviction rate in the majority of the cases.
