New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit status reports in sealed covers within ten days on their ongoing probes into alleged large-scale banking and corporate fraud involving the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and its group companies.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also issued fresh notices to Anil Ambani and ADAG in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a court-monitored investigation into the alleged fraud.
The court noted that notices had already been served on Ambani and the group but granted them one final opportunity to appear and file their responses.
The bench asked the Registrar General of the Bombay High Court to ensure proper service of notices on Anil Ambani and ADAG and to submit a compliance report. Represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the CBI and ED were instructed to place their progress reports before the court in sealed covers.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner and former Union secretary E A S Sarma, alleged that loans exceeding Rs 1.50 lakh crore availed by ADAG companies had been written off and siphoned off through shell entities.
He described the case as the “largest bank loan fraud in the country” and pointed out that Anil Ambani and the group had not entered an appearance despite widespread media coverage of the proceedings.
The solicitor general told the court that an FIR had already been registered following a forensic audit conducted by the State Bank of India (SBI), and said he was not opposing the submissions made by Bhushan.
Bhushan further alleged that the probe agencies were not examining the possible role of banks and their officials in facilitating or concealing the fraud.
He sought directions to the CBI and ED to submit separate status reports on investigations into the conduct of bank officials, arguing that institutional complicity had been ignored.
The PIL alleges systematic diversion of public funds, falsification of financial statements and coordinated wrongdoing across multiple ADAG
entities.
It contends that the FIR registered by the CBI on August 21, 2025, and related ED proceedings address only a limited part of the alleged fraud, despite forensic audits highlighting serious irregularities.
According to the plea, between 2013 and 2017, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom borrowed Rs 31,580 crore from a consortium of banks led by SBI.
The FIR alleges offences including criminal conspiracy and cheating involving an estimated loss of Rs 2,929.05 crore. The petition also flags a five-year delay in filing the FIR, claiming it points to possible involvement or inaction by bank officials, an aspect it says remains
uninvestigated.