SC rejects pleas of Anil Ambani challenging Bombay HC order

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the pleas of industrialist Anil Ambani challenging the Bombay High Court order that allowed the proceedings initiated by banks against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud to continue.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi permitted Ambani to pursue his plea before the High Court’s single judge bench against the banks’ show cause notices to declare the accounts as fraud.

The bench requested the single judge bench to expeditiously decide Ambani’s plea against the show cause notices issued by three banks.

The apex court passed the order while hearing three separate pleas filed by Ambani who had challenged a February 23 order of a division bench of the High Court.

The division bench had quashed a single judge bench interim order that stayed proceedings initiated against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud.

The division bench had allowed the appeals filed by three public sector banks and auditor firm BDO India LLP against the December 2025 interim order passed by a single bench.

The single judge bench order had stayed all present and future action by Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda, noting that the action was based on a legally flawed forensic audit and violated the Reserve Bank of India’s mandatory guidelines.

Ambani had challenged before the single bench show-cause notices issued by the Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI and Bank of Baroda, seeking to declare his and Reliance Communications’ accounts as fraud accounts.