CBI, ED show reluctance over ADAG probe: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday criticized the investigative agencies’ apparent reluctance to probe the Anil Ambani-led ADAG group of companies accused of misappropriating Rs 40,000 crore from bank loans and directed the CBI and ED to conduct a prompt and coordinated probe into the ADAG entities, their directors and officials.A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said: “The conduct of the investigating agency reflects a degree of reluctance. The investigation conducted by the investigating agency must be transparent, fair and timely to inspire confidence in the courts, all stakeholders and the public.”Submit latest status report of ADAG grp cases within 4 weeks: SC to CBI, EDWhen the bench said that while Sebi had discovered irregularities in the Anil Ambani-led ADAG group loan fraud probe at an early stage and the CBI’s August 2025 FIR dealt with a small portion of the fraud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI and ED, assured the court that the court’s view would be conveyed to the agencies personally by him in a “more stringent” manner.The SC asked agencies to submit fresh status reports within four weeks.Mehta informed the court that the ED had framed the SIT on the directions of the SC, while the CBI has so far registered eight separate cases related to the alleged misappropriation of nearly Rs 41,000 crore from bank loans. Mehta said four senior officials of the ADAG group have been arrested so far. He said the CBI was resolving the complex routing and re-routing of funds with the help of financial experts.He said the Ministry of Education has written to banks and financial institutions requesting them to provide timely information on loan approvals and the due diligence carried out before disbursing the loan amount. He said the education ministry has also asked them to take action against the erring officials as per banking laws and regulations.At his request, the judge directed all financial and other institutions to immediately provide the information required by the investigating agency. “Besides ADAG group and its officials, those involved in irregular loan sanctioning and utilization of public funds should also be prosecuted,” the bench said.Anil Ambani has promised the court not to leave India without the SC’s prior permission. Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said the ADAG group was ready to discuss the dues settlement issue with banks and financial institutions, but no one has come forward as a PIL by former bureaucrat EAS Sarma is pending.Mehta said payment of dues exempts ADAG Group from civil liability, but crimes require thorough investigation and reasonable measures. The bench dismissed Rohatgi’s plea seeking directions from the bank to discuss settlement of dues with the ADAG group. Prashant Bhushan, counsel for the PIL petitioner, said Sebi had provided a detailed report on the financial fraud committed by ADAG group entities, but the investigating agency took no action until the SC issued notices to them.The petition, filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, claimed that three companies in ADAG – Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Infratel (RITL) and Reliance Telecom (RTL) – had cumulatively received loans totaling Rs 31,850 crore from an SBI-led consortium of public sector banks between 2013-17.The applicants said various documents showed that ADAG companies were involved in “large-scale transfers of funds, round tripping, misuse of external commercial borrowings, falsification of accounting entries, operation of shell entities and complete disregard for public funds.”