HC dismisses Kochhar's plea against termination of employment
A division bench of Justices N M Jamdar and M S Karnikaccepted the bank's contention that Kochhar's petition was notmaintainable as the dispute was contractual and concerns aprivate body.
The bank's counsel Darius Khambata had earlier arguedthat a judicial review cannot be incurred under Article 226 ofthe Constitution, which empowers high courts to issuedirections, orders or writs in such a matter.
The bank sought dismissal of Kochhar's petition.
Kochhar was terminated from the ICICI Bank monthsafter she voluntarily left the second largest private sectorlender.
The high profile former banker moved the high court onNovember 30, 2019, challenging termination of her employmentby the ICICI Bank.
She contended that the bank also denied herremuneration and clawed back all the bonuses and stock optionsbetween April 2009 and March 2018 for her alleged role ingranting out of turn loans worth Rs 3,250 crore to theVideocon Group which benefitted her husband Deepak Kochhar.
Chanda Kochhar's counsel Vikram Nankani earlier arguedthat her termination came months after the bank approved hervoluntary resignation on October 5, 2018 and therefore, thetermination is "illegal, untenable, and unsustainable in law".
The ICICI Bank then filed an affidavit, contendingthat the reliefs in the petition are not maintainable and itdeserves to be dismissed as ICICI is a private bank and isadministered under the Companies Act, not the state or itsagency.
Khambata argued that ICICI is a private bankingcompany and Kochhar's petition seeks to contest what arepurely private contractual terms. SPGK GK