ED opposes Kochhar’s bail plea, says he is trying to mislead court

Opposing bail to Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, former managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said the accused is attempting to “mislead” the court by linking two separate proceedings. Kochhar, while seeking bail, had relied on a relief granted to the couple by the adjudicating authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) earlier this month stating that assets attached by the ED do not qualify as proceeds of crime.

The ED has said in its reply that the proceedings before the authority were in regard to attachment of property and has no bearing on the criminal trial before the special court.