NEW DELHI: ICICI chief executive Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank chief executive Shikha Sharma have gone from being icons of the banking sector to targets of serious allegations and criticism. Soon after both of them were summoned by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in relation to the probe in Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems fraud, other reasons emerged for their distress. Incidentally, both of them built their initial career at ICICI Bank , known as the talent factory of the banking sector.The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a preliminary enquiry to probe alleged nexus between Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot . Though Chanda Kochhar herself is not named in the inquiry. CBI sleuths are ascertaining the veracity of accusations against Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar that Dhoot provided crores of rupees to NuPower Renewables , a firm promoted by Deepak Kochhar, six months after Dhoot's group got Rs 3,250 crores as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012. The said amount was part of a loan of Rs 40,000 crores which Videocon received from a consortium of 20 banks led by the State Bank of India. ICICI Bank has defended Chanda Kochhar, denying allegations of favouritism, nepotism and quid pro quo in loans given to the Videocon group. Dhoot too has denied all allegations. The alleged scam was brought to light by a whistle-blower.Kochhar is no ordinary banker. She is credited with steering ICICI Bank through one of its worst crises during the global financial crisis after the fall of Lehman Brothers when there was a run on the bank. The finance minister and the regulators also had to intervene during that period to assure customers. Kochhar received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Carleton University, Canada in 2014, in recognition of her pioneering work in the financial sector, effective leadership in times of economic crisis and support for engaged business practices.Kochhar, who succeeded KV Kamath after his 13-year tenure as chief executive, tore up the very ICICI structure she grew up with, and laid a new foundation. “There comes a point where you have to say that we have to take action,” Kochhar told ET in an interview. “As I was growing up in the system, I was seeing all the positives of the system. Being a part of the whole system has its advantage of being able to see both the sides.”Kochhar was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 2011. She has been listed for seven consecutive years in Forbes’ ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ and for five consecutive years in Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’. She was also named in TIME magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People in the world’ in 2015If a quid pro quo between the Kochhar family and Videocon is proved, it will be a permanent stain on Kochhar's reputation.In July last year, Axis Bank reappointed its chief executive and managing director Shikha Sharma for three years from June 2018. It was her fourth three-year term. Now the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the Axis Bank board to reconsider her new term, according to an ET report today citing unnamed sources. Reasons include the bank’s performance and its deteriorating asset quality. The board is now considering a one-year term for Sharma, during which it will look for a successor says the report.When Sharma was appointed Axis Bank's MD & CEO in 2009, its chairman and CEO PJ Nayak resigned well before the end of his tenure. He was sore at the appointment of an outsider. Sharma was managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.But Sharma pushed aggressively for growth, which helped her build the business. After succeeding Nayak, she acquired Enam Group’s investment and broking business, propelling Axis to the top position in equities advisory and mergers and acquisitions.Compared with other major banks, Axis has delivered handsome returns since 2009, the year Sharma took charge. It has delivered 256% returns compared to that of 136% of ICICI Bank and 510% of HDFC Bank. "Sharma changed the bank's hierarchical culture, strengthened the core team by appointing new talent where needed, sought to build its core processes and infrastructure, and filled several gaps in its business portfolio," says a report in the Harvard Business Review.But now Axis Bank has been sliding for quite some time. It has seen a spurt in non-performing assets (NPAs) by 336% in the past three years. The bank, which reported gross NPAs of Rs 1,173 crore at the end of December 2009, saw them jump to Rs 25,001 crore at end of December 2017. Gross NPA ratio, which was at 1.08% in 2009, is now at 5.28%.