New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday turned up the heat on federal probe agencies, directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file status reports regarding their investigation into the alleged massive bank fraud involving Anil Ambani and his Reliance ADA Group (ADAG) companies.
The Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former Union Secretary E.A.S. Sarma, which alleges that the agencies have been dragging their feet on what could be one of the "largest corporate frauds in India's history."
The petitioner, represented by Advocate Prashant Bhushan, argued that the scale of the alleged fraud exceeds ₹20,000 crore (with some estimates citing total debt write-offs of over ₹1.5 lakh crore). The plea contends that Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries—Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom—siphoned off huge loans taken from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI).
Bhushan highlighted a forensic audit report from 2020 which reportedly flagged "large-scale diversion of funds," including transfers to unrelated parties and the use of shell companies to launder money.
A critical point raised during the hearing was the five-year delay by SBI in acting on the forensic audit. The bank received the audit report in October 2020 but only filed a complaint with the CBI in August 2025. Bhushan argued that this delay points to "institutional complicity" involving bank officials, yet the current FIRs by the CBI do not name any public servants.
"More than 1.5 lakh crores of debts have been written off. The web of transactions is so fraudulent... Clearly, they are not probing the collusion by the banks.
Taking note of these submissions, the Court issued fresh notices to Anil Ambani and the ADAG group, giving them a "last opportunity" to respond. More importantly, it directed the CBI and ED to place on record what they have done so far.
"The CBI and ED are directed to file status reports with respect to the ongoing investigations. If investigation is not complete, such status reports may be filed initially before us in a sealed cover."
The Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, stated he was not opposing the request for a status report, acknowledging that the forensic audit did indeed find siphoning of funds.
This order signals that the Supreme Court is willing to monitor high-profile corporate fraud investigations to ensure they don't hit a dead end. By demanding a status report, the Court is effectively auditing the auditors, ensuring that the "big fish"—including potentially complicit bank officials—are not shielded from scrutiny while public money is written off as bad debt.