EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s premier federal police investigation agency, finally filed a First Information Report (FIR) and charged Chanda Kochhar, former CEO, ICICI Bank, her husband, Deepak Kochhar and V. N. Dhoot, managing director, Videocon Group, with cheating ICICI Bank in the Rs 32.5 bn Videocon loan case. The long delay in filing the FIR, the unusual nature of the FIR itself, the unprecedented reaction of the erstwhile Finance Minister on his personal blog, and the sudden transfer of the supervisory officer investigating the case — all arouse suspicion that political interference has played a large role in this case, and will continue to do so. Even if such political interference winds up rescuing prominent accused persons, it will hardly provide reassurance about the state of governance at the bank itself.
