New Delhi, Nov 18 (UNI) The Supreme Court today sought responses from the Central government, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and businessman Anil Ambani on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a court-monitored investigation into an alleged large-scale banking fraud involving Reliance Communications (RCOM), its group entities, and Ambani.
The petition, filed by EAS Sarma, former Secretary to the Government of India, alleged systemic diversion of funds, fabrication of accounts, and institutional complicity in one of India’s “largest corporate frauds.”
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran issued notice and directed the Centre, CBI, ED, and Ambani to file their responses within three weeks.
Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Court, “This is probably the largest corporate fraud in India’s history.
The FIR comes to be registered only in 2025, whereas the fraud has been going on since 2007–08.”
The Court asked whether copies of the petition had been served on the respondents, to which Bhushan requested that status reports from both CBI and ED be called for.
The Court thereafter formally issued a notice.
According to the petition, the CBI FIR dated August 21, 2025, and connected ED proceedings cover only a fraction of the alleged wrongdoing.
Despite forensic audits and independent assessments pointing to large-scale fraud, investigative agencies have not examined the involvement of bank officials and financial regulators, it is alleged.
The petitioner also referred to a Bombay High Court judgment, which had noted instances of systematic diversion of funds.
The PIL states that the findings from the forensic audit between 2013 and 2017, RCOM and subsidiaries Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom allegedly received loans of Rs 31,580 crore from a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI).
A forensic audit commissioned by SBI allegedly found that the diversion of loan funds was for repayment of unrelated loans.
Transfers to related parties and routing of funds to disguise evergreening, investments liquidated immediately after infusion, transactions from bank accounts marked as closed, suggesting fabricated financial statements.
The petition further claimed that shell entities, including Netizen Engineering and Kunj Bihari Developers, were used to siphon and launder funds, and that sham preference share settlements caused losses of over Rs 1,800 crore.
A major grievance raised was that SBI’s nearly five-year delay in initiating criminal proceedings, despite the forensic audit being submitted in October 2020.
SBI lodged a complaint only in August 2025, which, according to the petitioner, indicated “institutional complicity.”
Since officers of nationalised banks are treated as public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act, their conduct also requires investigation, the plea argued.
The petition also cited other transactions, referred to alleged irregularities in other Anil Ambani-led entities, including Reliance Capital’s Rs 16,000-crore inter-corporate deposits to subsidiaries with negative net worth.
Diversion of funds by home-finance subsidiaries. Fabrication of accounts, forged documents, non-existent bank accounts, and cross-border layering of funds
The petitioner has sought a Supreme Court-monitored investigation covering all forensic audit findings, insolvency-related material, and potential offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), Companies Act, RBI norms, and under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The matter will be heard next after all respondents have filed their responses.
