ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case: Cracking quid pro quo relationships

In the absence of appropriate regulations and sophisticated technology, Indian investigators have their work cut out

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agencies investigating former ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar and their business dealings with the promoters of the Videocoon group, have pressed charges centring on a quid pro quo relationship between them. The onus will now be on the investigators -- and the regulators -- to prove that the charges stick in the court of law. That, say forensic experts, would require investigators to establish that the quid pro quo relationship led to a trail of direct or indirect financial benefits