Second I-T Notice issued to Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI Bank MD-CEO Chanda Kochhar

As per sources, a second Income Tax notice has been sent to ICICI Bank MD-CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar last week.

The notice asks Deepak Kochhar to explain his personal income and has been served under Section 139(9) of the I-T Act. He has been asked to respond within 15 days of receiving the notice.

Sources said to Republic TV that the foreign tax division of the Income Tax department had written to Mauritius tax authorities seeking details of ownership of DH Renewables Holding Ltd which is a majority shareholder in Deepak Kochhar's NuPower Renewables Holding Ltd, which is at the centre of the controversial ICICI Bank-Videocon Group loan deal.  

Earlier, on April 3, the I-T Department had sent a notice to NuPower Renewables under Section 131 of the I-T Act.

A few days after that, Deepak Kochhar's brother Rajiv Kochhar was detained by immigration authorities at Mumbai airport before he was to take a flight abroad and was handed over to the CBI. Lookout notices were also issued against Chanda and Deepak Kochhar at all airports in the country.

The controversy deals with a Rs 3,250 crore loan that had been sanctioned by ICICI Bank to the Videocon group in 2012 over which the CBI initiated a preliminary inquiry, allegedly to ascertain whether there was any quid pro quo involved.

At the centre of the case is the claim of conflict of interest that arises from the allegation that Deepak Kochhar’s company NuPower Renewables was founded as a 50-50 joint venture with Venugopal Dhoot, head of the Videocon Group. It has been alleged that ICICI bank had extended loans to the company of its MD-CEO's husband in violation of requisite corporate governance norms.