Supreme Court Orders 12 Firms to Yield Records in Bank Fraud

The Supreme Court of Mauritius has dismissed an appeal by a Mauritius-registered firm seeking to block the disclosure of financial records to Indian authorities investigating a massive corruption and money laundering scandal involving ICICI Bank.

Chief Judge Bibi Rehana Mungly-Gulbul and Judge Sulakshna Beekarry-Sunassee ruled on 13 May 2026 that the appeal by Essar Capital Holdings Limited was “misconceived” and legally inadmissible.

The court has now set a strict deadline of 1 June 2026 for the company to hand over the contested corporate and financial documents.

The Investigation & Mauritian Connection

The legal battle stems from an official request made by the Indian government on 23 December 2019 to the Attorney General of Mauritius, who serves as the “Central Authority” under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal and Related Matters Act 2003.

The request was issued on behalf of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing suspicious, high-value loans granted by ICICI Bank during the tenure of its former managing director and chief executive, Chanda Kochhar.

According to Supreme Court documents, Indian investigators suspect that specific companies received undue advantages through substantial bank loans.

In return, illicit payments were allegedly funnelled into entities connected to Mrs Kochhar’s husband, specifically NuPower Renewables Private Limited.

Chronology of the Dispute

• December 2019: Indian authorities formally request mutual legal assistance from Mauritius.
• September 2022: A Mauritian court issues an “evidence gathering order” targeting 12 companies registered in Mauritius, including Essar Capital Holdings Limited. The order demands corporate and financial records spanning more than a decade, from 2008 to 2019.
• May 2026: The Supreme Court rejects Essar’s final legal challenge against the order.
• June 2026: The revised deadline for the targeted firms to surrender the requested documents.

“Fishing Expedition” Claims Dismissed

In its legal challenge, Essar Capital Holdings Limited fiercely contested the evidence-gathering order, branding the sweeping demand for records as “abusive”, “disproportionate”, and akin to a “fishing expedition”.

Legal representatives for the firm further argued that prosecutors failed to establish a clear nexus between the alleged criminal offences and the specific documents requested.

However, the Supreme Court completely rejected these arguments.

Chief Judge Mungly-Gulbul and Judge Beekarry-Sunassee declared Essar’s legal approach “fundamentally flawed”.

The judges noted that while Mauritian law provides precise statutory mechanisms to refuse the production of documents in such proceedings, Essar had failed to invoke any of the valid grounds stipulated by the legislation.

Furthermore, the bench concluded that there were ample “reasonable grounds to believe” that a serious offence may have been committed and that vital evidence linked to the fraud could reside within Mauritius.

Source: Defi Media