ADAG banking fraud requires thorough probe: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said the matter concerning alleged large-scale banking fraud involving Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and its firms required a “thorough investigation” after the CBI said the total loss estimated in seven cases was around Rs 27,337 crore.

The CBI told the apex court nine FIRs had been lodged, including the two in which charge sheets have been filed, and investigations were on in seven cases.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a PIL filed by former bureaucrat EAS Sarma, who has sought a court-monitored probe into the alleged loan frauds exceeding Rs 40,000 crore by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) firms led by industralist Anil Ambani.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, said it was “puzzling” that both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have said it was a Rs 27,000-crore scam and Anil Ambani was its “kingpin”, but they have not arrested him so far. “Everywhere, the CBI and the ED are saying that in this Rs 27,000-crore scam, Anil Ambani is the kingpin. Yet I find it very puzzling that neither the CBI nor the ED is willing to arrest him as if he is a holy cow,” Bhushan said.

The bench observed that the apex court has repeatedly said that it would be extremely shy in directing arrest unless the investigating agency wants. It said rather than sensationalising the investigation, the focus should be on the probe and the collection of relevant materials.

The bench observed that the need for custodial interrogation in a case has to be left to the discretion of the probe agency.

“On the one hand, we want to develop jurisprudence like Antil and Pankaj Bansal (verdicts of the apex court), and if on the other hand we activate the investigating agencies like bloodhounds, it will be contrary to the law we are laying down,” the bench said. The top court said it was planning to monitor the probe as of now. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Anil Ambani, questioned how the petitioner can have one of the charge sheets filed in the matter when the concerned court has not yet taken cognisance of it.

“His only agenda is to arrest Anil Ambani. How can he have a copy of the charge sheet when cognisance has not been taken?” Sibal said, adding that Anil Ambani was cooperating in the investigation in every way. “Maybe I (Ambani) was cheated,” Sibal said.

Bhushan made clear that the petitioner does not want anybody to be victimised.

The bench observed that it does not want any prejudice to be caused to either side.

“But the matter requires a thorough investigation and they (probe agencies) should do it in a timely manner so that there is public confidence,” the bench said.

At the outset, Bhushan said the apex court had received status reports of the CBI and the ED in a sealed cover on the last date of hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for agencies, said two FIRs were registered against Reliance Telecom Ltd on complaints filed by the SBI.

“There are a total of nine FIRs out of which seven are under investigation and in two, charge sheets have been filed. In the seven cases, the total loss caused is Rs 27,337 crore,” he said.

Mehta said several teams of multiple investigating officers were formed for a speedy probe, and searches were conducted at 14 places in the seven cases in which a probe was going on.

He said 31 look-out circulars have been issued and around 3,960 documents have been collected in these cases.

Mehta, while saying that two persons have been arrested so far in these cases, also gave a tentative timeline for the filing of charge sheets in these seven cases.

Bhushan said they have gone through a charge sheet filed by the CBI in one of the cases and it was “so gross”. “We can’t really vet a charge sheet here,” the CJI said. The bench said there was a stage when its intervention was required to activate the probe agencies and it passed appropriate orders.

It said that if the court finds that the investigation is lacking, it may step in further.

The bench noted that Mehta has given a brief note on the progress made in relation to the pending probe.

It posted the matter for further consideration in July.

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, which 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.