CBI, ED showing reluctance in ADAG probe: SC

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Monday criticised what it called a perceptible reluctance among probe agencies to proceed against Anil Ambani-led ADAG group companies accused of siphoning Rs 40,000 crore from bank loans, and directed CBI and ED to carry out an expeditious and coordinated inquiry against the ADAG entities, their directors and officials.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said, "The conduct of the investigating agencies has reflected a degree of reluctance. The investigation carried out by the probe agencies must be transparent, fair and prompt to inspire confidence not only in the court but also among all stakeholders and the public."

File fresh status reports of ADAG grp case in 4 wks: SC to CBI, ED
When the bench said though the irregularities in Anil Ambani-led ADAG group loan fraud probe were flagged much earlier by Sebi and CBI’s Aug 2025 FIR dealt with a small part of the fraud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI and ED, assured the court that the views of the court would be conveyed by him personally to the agencies in a “much harsher” manner.

SC asked the agencies to file fresh status reports in four weeks.

Mehta informed the court that ED has constituted SIT as directed by the SC and the CBI has so far registered eight separate cases involving alleged siphoning off nearly Rs 41,000 crore from bank loans. Four top officials of ADAG group have been arrested so far, Mehta said. He said CBI is taking help of financial experts to unravel the complex routing and re-routing of money.

He said ED has written a letter to banks and financial institutions for prompt furnishing of information relating to sanctioning of loans and the due diligence followed prior to disbursement of the loan amounts. He said the ED has also requested them to act against errant officials under the banking laws and regulations.

On his request, the bench directed all financial and other institutions to promptly furnish the information required by the probe agencies. “Apart from the ADAG group and its officials, those involved in the irregular sanction of loans and playing with public money should also be proceeded against,” the bench said.

For Anil Ambani, who has already given an undertaking to the court not to leave India without SC’s prior permission, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said the ADAG group is ready to discuss with the banks and financial institutions for settlement of the dues, but no one is coming forward because of the pendency of the PIL by former bureaucrat E A S Sarma.

Mehta said the settlement of dues could absolve the ADAG group of civil liabilities, but the criminal acts require to be thoroughly investigated and taken to their logical end. The bench brushed aside Rohatgi’s request for directions to the banks to discuss settlement of dues with ADAG group. For the PIL petitioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan said that Sebi had given a detailed report about the financial fraud indulged in by ADAG group entities and yet the probe agencies did nothing till the SC issued notices to them.

The petition, filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, alleged that three of the ADAG companies – Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Infratel (RITL) and Reliance Telecom (RTL) – cumulatively received loans to the tune of Rs 31,850 crore from a consortium of public sector banks led by SBI between 2013-17.

Petitioner said various documents revealed alleged involvement of ADAG companies in “large-scale diversion of funds, roundtripping, misuse of external commercial borrowings, fabrication of accounting entries, operation of shell entities, and a complete disregard for the public money.”

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