The Supreme Court Monday agreed to urgently list a public interest litigation seeking a court-monitored investigation into what has been described as one of the country’s largest banking frauds, allegedly involving Reliance Communications Ltd., its group entities, and their promoter Anil Ambani.

The PIL, filed under Article 32 by former union Secretary E A S Sarma, alleges massive diversion of bank funds, forgery, fabrication of accounts, use of shell companies and coordinated financial misconduct across the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).

Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and sought urgent hearing, submitting that the alleged fraud amounts to nearly Rs 20,000 crore and requires an independent, court-monitored probe.

The CJI agreed to list the matter at an early date.

According to the petition, Reliance Communications and its group companies received loans worth Rs 31,580 crore between 2013 and 2017 from a consortium led by the State Bank of India, and a forensic audit commissioned by SBI and submitted in October 2020 reportedly revealed large-scale diversion of funds through related parties, shell entities, circular transactions and fictitious asset purchases.

Despite these findings, SBI registered a complaint only in August 2025, a delay of almost five years, which the petitioner alleges raises serious questions about whether bank officials acted to shield the borrower companies.

The CBI thereafter lodged an FIR alleging conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust causing a purported loss of Rs 2,929 crore, but the petition argues that the FIR covers only a fraction of the alleged misconduct and ignores graver offences such as diversion through non-existent accounts, ever greening of loans, fictitious book entries and routing of funds through untraceable conduit entities.

The petition further relies on multiple forensic audit reports, including those connected to Reliance Communications, Reliance Infratel, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Capital, which allegedly reveal patterns of large-scale siphoning of public funds and violations of statutory frameworks such as the Companies Act, FEMA, SEBI regulations and RBI directions.

It also cites investigative material, including a Cobrapost report claiming diversion of approximately Rs 41,921 crore across the Anil Ambani Group, with funds allegedly routed both domestically and through offshore entities in Mauritius, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands.

Additionally, the petition refers to subsequent forensic findings during insolvency proceedings, including a 2022 audit of Reliance Capital that purportedly uncovered reckless inter-corporate deposits of nearly Rs16,000 crore and a Grant Thornton report flagging preferential and undervalued transactions detrimental to creditors.

The petitioner contends that bank officials involved in sanctioning and monitoring these loans are public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and argues that excluding them from scrutiny renders the ongoing investigation constitutionally flawed and violative of Articles 14 and 21.

Despite searches at more than 35 premises, the probe is still alleged to be incomplete and fragmented, making judicial supervision essential to ensure a coordinated and transparent investigation covering all offences and responsible individuals.

The matter will be listed for hearing soon.