Supreme Court Seeks CBI, ED Status Reports On Probe Of Alleged Bank Fraud By Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Companies

The Supreme Court on Friday called for status reports from the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) with respect to their ongoing investigation into the alleged bank frauds perpetauted by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies and their promoter Anil Ambani.The reports have to be submitted in a sealed cover.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by EAS Sarma, former Union Government Secretary.Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioner, submitted that more than Rs 1.50 lakh crores of debt of these companies have been written off, and money was siphoned off through many shell companies. He claimed that this was the "largest bank loan fraud in the country."Bhushan submitted that Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Anil Ambani have not entered appearance, though notice was issued to them on November 18 last year. "This was highly reported in the media, it's not that they do not know, they are watching [the proceedings]," Bhushan submitted.The bench noted that these respondents have not entered an appearance though notice was served on them. Nevertheless, in the interest of justice, the bench chose to give them a last opportunity. Fresh notice was issued to them, and the Registrar General of the Bombay High Court was directed to ensure that the same is served on them.Bhushan also requested the bench to seek status reports from the ED and the CBI. He submitted that no public servant has been named as an accused in the investigation.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted that he was not opposing Bhushan. He informed the bench that the FIR was filed pursuant to a foresnic audit conducted by the State Bank of India. "I am not opposing Mr. Bhushan. There was a forensic audit. They did find siphoning of funds for other purposes etc. based on that the SBI has filed an FIR with the CBI," SG submitted.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...

Supreme Court Seeks CBI, ED Status Reports On Probe Of Alleged Bank Fraud By Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Companies

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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Supreme Court Seeks CBI, ED Status Reports On Probe Of Alleged Bank Fraud By Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Companies

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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