‘Unexplained Delay’: Supreme Court Pulls Up CBI, ED Over Probe Into Multicrore RCom Loan Fraud Case

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday sharply rebuked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the slow pace and narrow scope of their probes into allegations of widespread bank loan fraud by Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom), its group companies and promoter Anil Ambani.

The Court underscored that both agencies must accelerate their investigations and bring them to logical conclusions without further delay. Court also asked the ED to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, expressed concern over what it described as “unexplained delay” by the ED in probing the alleged siphoning of loans exceeding ₹40,000 crore by RCom entities.

Court also took issue with the CBI’s practice of treating multiple banking complaints as extensions of a single FIR, rather than registering separate cases for each distinct transaction.

Petitioner EAS Sarma, a former union government secretary, has implored the court to take supervisory control of the investigation, arguing that the ongoing probes are piecemeal and fall short of examining all implicated parties, including bank officials and public servants.

Court echoed concerns about procedural propriety, observing that each bank’s complaint may amount to a separate offence warranting fresh registration.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI and ED, informed the Court that separate status reports have been filed by both agencies. The Bench made clear it expects these investigations to be pursued vigorously and without further hindrance.

In response to a submission that the Court should bar Anil Ambani from leaving the country amid the probe, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Anil Ambani, offered an undertaking that his client would not depart India without prior permission of the Supreme Court. The undertaking was recorded by the Bench, with assurances from the Solicitor General that all necessary preventive measures, including lookout notices, would be maintained.

Sarma's writ petition seeks a court-monitored investigation into what is described as one of the country’s largest banking frauds.

During the previous hearing in the matter on January 30, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioner, had argued that banks had written off huge debts after loans were allegedly diverted through a network of shell companies, and flagged that auditing and criminal proceedings were significantly delayed, with accounts suggesting that irregularities were first detected by the Bank of Baroda in 2020 but a formal FIR was lodged only in 2025.

The Solicitor General had acknowledged that a forensic audit had been conducted and that the State Bank of India had lodged an FIR based on its findings, but detailed steps taken by the agencies remained unclear.

Therefore, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI and the ED to file status reports detailing the progress of their probes into the matter.

Case Title: Eas Sarma vs. Union of India and Others

Hearing Date: February 4, 2026

Bench: CJI Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi