Bombay HC rejects Chanda Kochhar plea for 'retirement benefits'

MUMBAI: In no relief to former CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar, the Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by her and upheld an interim order passed last year by a single-judge bench, which denied her plea for access to almost seven lakh ICICI Bank shares that she claimed were related to her early retirement benefits.
Whether ICICI Bank, in view of the serious findings in the inquiry report by Justice B N Srikrishna (retired), could claw back the benefits that Kochhar derived during her employment between 2009 and 2018 is a matter of trial, held the appeal bench of Justices K R Shriram and Rajesh Patil."Whether ESOPs can be revoked or whether ESOP is a separate contract are also matters for trial," it added.
After hearing submissions made by senior counsel Aspi Chinoy with advocate Rohaan Cama for Kochhar and senior counsel Darius Khambata and Mustafa Doctor for ICICI Bank, the HC bench said that the relief she is seeking would, if given, amount to final relief at an interim stage. The HC directed that her suit be listed on August 4 for framing of issues for the trial.