New Delhi, Jan 23: The Supreme Court on Friday issued fresh notices to industrialist Anil Ambani and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) in a public interest litigation seeking a court-monitored investigation into alleged large-scale banking and corporate fraud involving the conglomerate and its group companies.
The apex court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit status reports in sealed cover within ten days on their ongoing investigations into the alleged fraud. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented both agencies before the court.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that Anil Ambani and ADAG had already been served notices in the PIL filed by petitioner E A S Sarma, a former Union secretary. The court had initially issued notices to the Centre, CBI, ED, Anil Ambani and ADAG on November 18 last year.
The bench granted a final opportunity to Anil Ambani and ADAG to appear and file their responses in the case. It also instructed the Bombay High Court’s Registrar General to ensure proper service of notices on the respondents and submit a compliance report. The matter has been scheduled for hearing after ten days.
During the proceedings, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing petitioner Sarma, alleged that investigating agencies were not probing the alleged involvement of banks and their officials in what he termed “probably the largest corporate fraud in India’s history.” He highlighted that while the fraud reportedly began in 2007-08, an FIR was registered only in 2025.
“We want a status report from the ED and the CBI on what they are investigating. Clearly, they are not probing the collusion by the banks,” Bhushan argued before the court. He sought directions to both agencies to file detailed status reports regarding their investigation into banks and their officials.
The PIL alleges systematic diversion of public funds, fabrication of financial statements and institutional complicity across multiple entities of the Reliance ADAG group. It contends that the CBI’s FIR registered on August 21, along with connected ED proceedings, addresses only a fraction of the alleged fraud.
The case will be heard again after the investigating agencies submit their sealed cover reports and the respondents file their responses.
