Retired Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna on Friday told BloombergQuint that he has been appointed to investigate charges of impropriety against ICICI Bank Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar.
Kochhar is accused of conflict of interest in her dealings with certain borrowers. It is also alleged that she favoured the Ruia brothers of Essar group for “round-tripping” investments into NuPower Renewables, which is owned by her husband. On May 30, ICICI Bank announced an investigation into the conflict of interest charges. Last week, the Centre said it was probing NuPower Renewables and five other firms.
On Friday, Justice Srikrishna said he was yet to discuss the details of the cases and the scope of the inquiry with ICICI Bank’s audit committee. An investigation team will be formed once the discussions are over, he said.
“The board [of directors of ICICI Bank] felt he would be the best person to conduct this inquiry,” an unidentified official told The Economic Times. “Justice Srikrishna is an independent and credible name, who has a good understanding of the financial markets.”
The former judge was chairperson of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, a body set up by the Union Finance Ministry in 2011 to review and rewrite the architecture of the financial sector. He also headed a commission that investigated the 1992-’93 communal riots in Mumbai.
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