CBI tells SC it has filed three chargesheets in ADAG bank fraud cases

The CBI informed the Supreme Court that it has filed three chargesheets in seven investigated FIRs linked to alleged ADAG banking fraud, while probes continue in four cases, prompting the court to seek a fresh status report on investigations

New Delhi: The CBI on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has filed three chargesheets in as many cases out of the total seven FIRs concerning alleged large-scale banking fraud involving Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and its firms.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohna was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, that the investigation in the other four cases was underway.

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The top court took note of the submission by Mehta and directed the CBI to file a status report on the progress in the investigation. It also recorded that the Enforcement Directorate has also filed a prosecution report, equivalent to a chargesheet, in related money laundering cases.

During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, former bureaucrat EAS Sarma, alleged that the kingpin Anil Ambani has not been arrested so far in the cases.

He said though three chargesheets were filed by June, the CBI has not filed any status report in the matter. Bhushan submitted that though SEBI mentioned the “pivotal” role of Anil Ambani, there is nothing disclosed in the status report filed by CBI.

He alleged that no action has been taken against Anil Ambani and only relatively lowly officers have been arrested. “I am saying they should disclose to your lordships what they have found about his role. In a 2025 chargesheet, the CBI says he was kingpin. SEBI says he was kingpin,” Bhushan said.

Solicitor General refuted Bhushan’s submission and told the court that it is wrong to say that only lowly officers have been arrested. Even managing directors and executives have been arrested, he said.

The top court said it would not be fair to direct anything and asked Bhushan to go through the chargesheet about the role attributed to Anil Ambani. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Anil Ambani, submitted that such a comment itself will cause prejudice to his party.

“Once a chargesheet is filed, cognisance is yet to be taken. This is not the procedure this court has ever followed,” Sibal said. The top court said it was conscious that nothing should come from the bench which can be prejudicial to the parties.

Mehta, appearing for agencies, had earlier told the court that there are a total of nine FIRs, out of which seven are under investigation. “In the seven cases, the total loss caused is Rs 27,337 crore,” he had said.

Earlier, the apex court expressed displeasure over the “reluctance” shown by the CBI and the ED in probing the alleged large-scale banking fraud involving ADAG and its firms.

It had directed the CBI and the ED to conduct a “fair, dispassionate, transparent and time-bound” investigation into the matter. Anil Ambani had assured the top court that he would not leave the country without its prior nod after the petitioner apprehended that he may flee.

The ED had alleged defaults of Rs 7,500 crore in Reliance Home Finance and Rs 8,200 crore in Reliance Commercial Finance, citing “large-scale diversion of public funds”.

On Reliance Power, the ED’s report, which was recorded earlier by the bench, said the agency was investigating the submission of forged bank guarantees to Solar Energy Corporation of India that caused a loss of more than Rs 105 crore. The PIL alleged systematic diversion of public funds, fabrication of financial statements and institutional complicity across multiple entities of Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADAG.

It claimed that between 2013 and 2017, RCOM, Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom borrowed Rs 31,580 crore from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.