Chanda Kochhar forced to go on indefinite leave? Not so, says ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank, in the middle of one of the biggest controversies ever to hit the lender, on Friday clarified that its CEO Chanda Kochhar was not asked to go on leave, but has only gone on a pre-planned annual leave. The clarification came after a newspaper report suggested that the independent directors of the lender had asked Kochhar to go on indefinite leave.

ICICI Bank also said it has not appointed any committee to look for her replacement. "The ICICI Bank Board denies having asked Ms. Chanda Kochhar to go on leave. She is on her annual leave which was planned in advance. Further, the Board denies that it has appointed any search committee to find her successor," said ICICI Bank in a filing to BSE. 

Following the clarification, ICICI Bank share price pared most of its gains to trade just 1 per cent higher. The stock had rallied as much as 5 per cent to Rs 299.80 in the early trade. 

LiveMint on Friday reported that Kochhar has been asked to proceed on indefinite leave from the company. 

The immediate reason behind this drastic step was the emergence of a new whistleblower complaint. 

Chanda Kochhar has been under trouble ever since the allegations of impropriety in ICICI Bank extending loans to some companies and enjoying reciprocal benefits by her family members surfaced. The accusations include the links that Vidoecon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot has with Kochhar's husband Deepak. However, after initial investigation in 2016, she was cleared of all charges.

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Meanwhile, ICICI Bank reported 45 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,142 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017-18. It had a net profit of Rs 2,083 crore in the January-March quarter of the preceding fiscal, 2016-17.

The bank's standalone profit declined by 50 per cent to Rs 1,020 crore as against Rs 2,025 crore in the year-ago quarter.