Supreme Court Seeks CBI, ED Response On Plea For Independent Probe Into Alleged Bank Fraud By Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group Companies

The Supreme Court today issued notice on a public interest litigation seeking a court-monitored investigation into what is described as one of the country's largest banking frauds allegedly involving Reliance Communications Ltd., its group entities and their promoter Anil Ambani.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Union Government, CBI, ED, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Anil Ambani on the writ petition filed under Article 32 by former Union Secretary E A S Sarma.

The petitioner alleges large-scale diversion of funds, forgery, fabrication of accounts, use of shell companies and coordinated financial misconduct across the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

Advcoate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioner, submitted that the case is "probably the largest corporate fruad in India's history." He submitted that the FIR was registered only in 2025 though the fraud was going on since 2007-08. "We want a status report from ED and CBI on what they are investigating? Because clearly they are not probing the collusion by the banks," he said.

The petitioner contends that the present investigation being conducted by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate is narrow, incomplete, and deliberately excludes the role of bank officials and public servants, despite detailed material indicating their complicity. He submits that judicial supervision is essential to ensure a coordinated, transparent and comprehensive probe covering all offences revealed in multiple forensic audit reports, technical analyses and investigative publications.

According to the petition, Reliance Communications and its group companies cumulatively received Rs. 31,580 crore in loans between 2013 and 2017 from a consortium led by State Bank of India. A forensic audit commissioned by SBI and submitted in October 2020 reportedly uncovered diversion of thousands of crores through related parties, shell firms, circular transactions and sham asset purchases. However, despite these findings, SBI lodged a formal complaint only in August 2025, nearly five years later, a delay the petitioner says cannot be explained without examining whether bank officials acted to shield the borrower group.

The CBI thereafter registered an FIR alleging conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust, causing an alleged wrongful loss of Rs. 2,929 crore. The petition argues that the FIR covers only a fraction of the alleged misconduct and ignores grave offences such as diversion through non-existent bank accounts, evergreening of loans, fictitious entries, and the use of conduit entities like Netizen Engineering Pvt. Ltd. and Kunj Bihari Developers Pvt. Ltd., which were found to be untraceable at their registered addresses.

Multiple materials placed before the Court, including forensic audits of Reliance Communications, Reliance Infratel, Reliance Telecom, Reliance Capital and related companies, reportedly reveal a pattern of large-scale siphoning of public funds, layering of transactions and violations of statutory and regulatory frameworks such as the Companies Act, FEMA, SEBI norms and RBI directions.

The petition stresses that bank officials involved in sanctioning, monitoring and overlooking these transactions are “public servants” for the purpose of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Their conduct, it argues, forms an integral part of the alleged conspiracy and must be investigated. Excluding them from scrutiny, it says, renders the ongoing probe constitutionally deficient and violative of Articles 14 and 21.

The petitioner has also placed reliance on a recent investigative report by Cobrapost which claims that companies across the Anil Ambani Group diverted funds amounting to nearly Rs. 41,921 crore, including Rs. 28,874 crore from domestic borrowings and approximately Rs. 13,047 crore routed into India from abroad through offshore entities in Mauritius, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands.

The petition further cites subsequent forensic audits, including the 2022 audit of Reliance Capital, which allegedly uncovered reckless inter-corporate deposits of nearly Rs. 16,000 crore, arbitrary devaluation of securities and repeated violations of lending policies. It also points to a Grant Thornton report prepared during insolvency proceedings which details preferential and undervalued transactions to the detriment of creditors.

Despite searches at more than thirty-five premises, the petition claims that no arrests have been made and no significant assets have been frozen, reflecting institutional difficulty in carrying out an effective investigation without judicial oversight. Given the magnitude of public money involved and the alleged institutional dimension of the fraud, the petitioner argues that a court-monitored probe is essential to ensure fairness and restore public confidence.

The petition also seeks the constitution of an expert committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court to recommend structural reforms to prevent recurrence of similar financial scandals.

Case : EAS Sarma v. Union of India and others |Diary No. 65397-2025 

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