Supreme Court Seeks Replies on RCOM Group Probe
The Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Union government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and businessman Anil Ambani in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that seeks a court-monitored investigation into alleged banking fraud involving Reliance Communications (RCOM) and its group companies. The bench, led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, has asked the respondents to file their replies within three weeks.
Allegations of Diversion and Institutional Complicity
The PIL was filed by former union secretary E. A. S. Sarma, who alleges that between 2013 and 2017 RCOM and associated firms borrowed about ₹31,580 crore from a consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI). The petition claims that forensic audits revealed misuse of funds including circular transactions, transfer to related parties and masking of liabilities. It further alleges that only a fraction of the misconduct has been probed and that regulators and banks have not been held accountable.
Impact and Next Steps
According to the petition, investigators first registered an FIR in August 2025, but failed to examine the full scale of the alleged fraud. The court-monitored investigation is urged to cover offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Companies Act, 2013 and other relevant statutes. The Supreme Court’s notice signals that the case may now advance to a stage in which the CBI, ED and the government must present detailed responses.
