SC expresses displeasure over investigation delay against Anil Ambani:Says, ‘laxity will not be tolerated’; orders businessman not to leave country without permission

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure towards CBI and ED concerning the delay in the investigation of the ₹40,000 crore bank fraud case related to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). According to media reports, both the investigating agencies could not give any reason for the delay in the investigation, as they have already spent a lot of time on the matter, as the SC in January had asked CBI and ED to file a status report in a sealed envelope and issued notices to Anil Ambani and ADAG. A bench of Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M Pancholi had ordered that Anil Ambani will not leave the country without the SC’s prior permission. Actually, the petitioner and former IAS officer EAS Sarma had expressed apprehension about Anil leaving the country. During the hearing, Anil Ambani, through his lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, assured the Court that he would not leave the country without the Court’s permission. READ MORE | Congress accuses Anil Ambani of seeking help from Epstein ‘₹40 thousand crores siphoned, proceeds of crime ₹20 thousand crores’, claimed ED Reportedly, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the court that lookout circulars have already been issued against Anil Ambani. Mehta also claimed that companies belonging to Anil are accused of siphoning off about ₹40 thousand crores. On this, the court orally remarked, “This is a case of a large amount being siphoned off. The court took on record ED’s affidavit stating that the proceeds of crime are estimated to be more than ₹20 thousand crores.” The agency has provisionally attached assets worth ₹8,078 crores. READ MORE | Chargesheet filed against Reliance Power in money-laundering case ‘Business loss loan default should not become a criminal case’, said Anil’s lawyer Anil Ambani’s lawyer, Shyam Diwan, denied allegations of public fund embezzlement. He also claimed that Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure have paid back nearly ₹20,000 crore. Hence, business losses and loan defaults should not be made criminal cases. The petition alleges that the fraud was ongoing since 2007-08, but the FIR was registered in 2025. According to the petition, between 2013-17, RCOM, Reliance Infratel (RITL) and Reliance Telecom (RTL) had taken loans of over ₹40,000 crore from SBI and other banks. Later, the loan amount was used elsewhere instead of its intended purpose. In some cases, funds were transferred to other group companies. There was also a default (NPA) in repaying the loan on time. Investigation reveals misuse of funds ED’s investigation found widespread misuse of funds in Reliance Home Finance (RHFL) and Reliance Commercial Finance (RCFL). Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested ₹2,965 crore in RHFL and ₹2,045 crore in RCFL. By December 2019, these amounts became Non-Performing Assets (NPA). ₹1,353 crore of RHFL and ₹1,984 crore of RCFL are still outstanding. In total, Yes Bank incurred a loss of over ₹2,700 crore. According to the ED, these funds were diverted to other companies of the Reliance Group. Many irregularities were also found in the loan approval process. For example, some loans were applied, approved, and disbursed on the same day. Field checks and meetings were skipped. Documents were found blank or dateless. The ED has called this ‘intentional control failure’. The investigation is ongoing under Section 5(1) of PMLA, and attachment orders were issued on October 31, 2025.