In a petition alleging illegal arrest, a division bench of the Bombay High Court led by Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithvi Raj Chavan ordered the release of former ICICI bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar on January 9. The order is temporary only.

"Accordingly, in the facts, we hold that the petitioners’ arrest is not in accordance with law. Thus, non-compliance of the mandate of Section 41(1)(b)(ii), Section 41-A and Section 60-A of Cr.P.C will enure to the benefit of the petitioners, warranting their release on bail" the Court directed.

They will be released on provisional cash bail of one lakh rupees each. The CBI arrested Chanda and her husband Deepak Kochhar on December 24 on allegations of cheating and irregularities in a 3,250 crore loan granted to the Videocon Group in 2012.

The complainant claimed that Kochhar's husband and family members benefited from the transactions.

It was claimed that when Kochhar was the CEO of ICICI Bank, she approved a loan for the Videocon Group of Companies. Her husband's company, Nu Renewable, allegedly received investment from Videocon as a bribe. The loan later became non-performing and was labelled as bank fraud. On December 29, after initial CBI custody, the special CBI court remanded them to judicial custody.

The duo petitioned the court in two separate petitions, seeking the quashing of the CBI's FIR and remand orders in the case involving irregularities in loans made to Venugopal Dhoot's Videocon Group by ICICI Bank between 2009 and 2012. They requested temporary release. The court made it clear last week that it was not hearing the Kochhars' petitions because of their son's wedding, but rather because of their failure to comply with Section 41A of the CrPC, for which they were served with a notice.

Their petition questioned the arrest's timing, citing their son's wedding in January. Kochhars' only son is getting married on January 15, and the festivities are set to begin soon. This leads to the belief that being arrested on the eve of her son's wedding after 4 years of the FIR despite established law was motivated by malafide, according to the plea.