Disappointed, hurt and shocked: Former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar on being sacked

New Delhi: Former CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar, on Wednesday said that she 'disappointed, hurt and shocked' by the bank's decision to treat her resignation as a "termination for cause" after an independent probe indicted her.

"I am utterly disappointed, hurt and shocked by the decision," Kochhar, who was on leave from June and finally resigned early October, said in a statement.

Kochhar was the first woman CEO of a bank in the country and served the ICICI group for 34 long years. She said that she had served the ICICI group "with all my dedication and hard work" and the decision from the bank has caused her "immense hurt and pain".

"I have pursued my career as an independent professional with utmost honesty, dignity and integrity. I continue to have faith and belief in my conduct as a professional and I am certain that truth will ultimately prevail," she said.

She was quick to add that none of the credit decisions at the bank is unilateral and the bank has established processes and systems which involve committee-based collective decision-making.

"The organisational design and the structure obviate the possibility of a conflict of interest," she claimed.

The bank had, earlier in the day, said that Kochhar violated ICICI's Code of Conduct. An enquiry report submitted by Justice (Retd) B N Srikrishna concluded that there was a lack of diligence with respect to annual disclosures and violation of the code of conduct, on her part.

ICICI Bank further said that it would treat Kochhar's resignation as 'Termination for Cause' and would stop payment of unpaid benefits including bonus.

"Chanda Kochhar was in violation of ICICI Bank Code of Conduct, its framework for dealing with conflict of interest&fiduciary duties. Board of Directors has decided to treat separation of Chanda Kochhar from Bank as 'Termination for Cause' under Bank's internal policies," ICICI Bank had said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)