Letter to BS: Better late than never aptly applies to Chanda Kochhar case

This is with reference to “Kochhar goes on leave, Bakshi appointed COO” (June 19). The saying: Better late than never aptly applies to the high profile MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar (pictured) of ICICI Bank for belatedly deciding to proceed on leave.

As a matter of fact, Kochhar on her own volition should have chosen to stay away immediately after the controversial loans came in public domain. It would appear that the Board of Directors of the bank continue to be beholden to Kochhar, as according to the press release, it is Kochhar’s decision to go on leave and not Board’s. 

The Board has not covered itself with glory having earlier hastily given her a “clean chit” without carrying out an objective internal probe. At best, they did it perfunctorily betraying the absence of an efficacious internal vigilance mechanism in the largest privately-owned bank in the country. Such omissions also render the bank’s corporate governance questionable. Given the gravity of allegations and with the likes of Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya giving sleepless nights to the enforcement agencies, one hopes, the concerned agencies would also examine any criminality aspect in the current deal and take timely pre-emptive measures. 

S K Choudhury,  Bengaluru

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