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A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of the arguments of advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner and former Union Secretary EAS Sarma, and sought a reply within three weeks.
The bench posted the PIL for further hearing after three weeks.
Bhushan alleged that the investigating agencies were not probing the alleged collusion of banks and their officials in the massive banking fraud.
He sought directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file relevant status reports regarding the investigation against the banks and their officials in the case.
Bhushan said the current case is “probably the biggest corporate fraud in the history of India”.
The lawyer alleged that the FIR was lodged in 2025, although the fraud was going on since 2007-08.
“We want a status report from the ED and CBI on what they are investigating. Clearly, they are not investigating the collusion of banks,” he said.
“Issue notice… can be returned in three weeks. Let them file their reply,” the CJI said.
The PIL has alleged systematic diversion of public funds, manipulation of financial statements and institutional collusion in several entities of Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADAG.
It said the FIR lodged by the CBI on August 21, along with the related proceedings of the ED, addresses only a small part of the alleged fraud.
The petition claimed that despite a detailed forensic audit uncovering serious irregularities, no agency is investigating the role of bank officials, auditors or regulators, which the petitioner called a “serious failure”.
“Issue a writ of mandamus… or direct a court-monitored investigation by CBI and ED to conduct a thorough, impartial and time-bound investigation into the financial fraud committed by respondent No. 4 (Anil Ambani) and respondent No. 5 (ADAG),” the plea said.
It also sought a direction to the respondents to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising officials from CBI and ED, to conduct a “thorough, impartial and time-bound investigation”.
“Issue appropriate writs or directions that the investigation into the affairs of ADAG, its promoters/directors and related entities be monitored by this Honorable Court, so as to ensure that the investigation is fair, independent, comprehensive and free from any outside influence, and that no aspect of financial or criminal misconduct revealed in the forensic and audit reports remains outside the scope of the investigation.”
The petition also sought a comprehensive, coordinated and judicially monitored investigation, stating that the ongoing investigation by the CBI and ED is inadequate and has been deliberately limited to a narrow FIR filed. state Bank of India (SBI) in August 2025.
It said that between 2013 and 2017, RCom, Reliance Infratel (RITL) and Reliance Telecom (RTL) borrowed Rs 31,580 crore from a consortium of banks led by SBI.
SBI filed the FIR on August 21, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and misconduct related to the alleged loss of Rs 2,929.05 crore.
The plea said the FIR was based on a forensic audit initiated in 2019, which covered suspicious fund flows, diversion of bank loans, fraudulent transactions and alleged use of shell companies.
“In the present case the investigating agencies have ignored the delay of five years in filing the FIR by the bank, which clearly indicates the involvement of bank officials and other public servants whose conduct enabled, concealed or abetted the fraud,” it said.
It said the CBI and ED have completely failed to investigate this institutional aspect, and have excluded from the investigation those public officials whose connivance or deliberate inaction is an essential part of the criminal conspiracy.