The managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar, has pulled out of a programme where President Ram Nath Kovind was to felicitate her, PTI reported on Tuesday. This comes at a time when questions have been raised about a Rs 3,250-crore loan ICICI Bank sanctioned to the Videocon Group in 2012.

Kochhar was invited as to be the guest of honour at the annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or FICCI, Ladies Organisation on Thursday. However, the revised invitations for the event circulated on Tuesday did not feature the name of the ICICI Bank CEO.

“She was the guest of honour, but she has backed out from the programme. So now she is no longer coming for the event,” Rashmi Sarita, executive director of the FICCI Ladies Organisation, told PTI.

Kochhar did not specify why she will no longer participate in the event organised by the women’s business wing of the industry association.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has initiated a preliminary enquiry to determine whether ICICI Bank violated any law by sanctioning the Rs 3,250-crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012. Videocon Group CEO Venugopal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar and unknown others were named as suspects in the CBI’s preliminary enquiry, which can be converted into an FIR when the agency has sufficient material to show that a cognisable offence has been committed.

Dhoot allegedly provided crores of rupees to NuPower Renewables – a company founded by Deepak Kochchar – six months after the Videocon Group got the loan from ICICI Bank. It was part of the Rs 40,000-crore loan that the conglomerate secured from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India.

The board of ICICI Bank had backed Chanda Kochhar, saying there was no quid pro quo, nepotism, or conflict of interest on her part in the loans granted to the Videocon Group.