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In late March 2026, two Indian courts delivered sharply contrasting signals on corporate fraud. On March 23, a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant reprimanded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It found their “reluctance” in investigating alleged banking fraud by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) unacceptable. It directed a fair, transparent and time-bound probe. On March 27, a Bombay high court division bench headed by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar took the opposite approach. It dismissed a petition seeking a CBI probe into bribery allegations against Adani Green Energy. The bench termed it an “abuse of the process of the court” and declined to examine what was placed before it.

The Supreme Court pushes back on agency inaction

In E.A.S. Sarma v. Union of India (W.P.(C) No. 1217/2025), a PIL, filed by former Government Secretary E.A.S. Sarma and argued by well-known Advocate Prashant Bhushan, the petitioner sought a court-monitored investigation into alleged loan frauds exceeding Rs 40,000 crore by ADAG firms. These included Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Commercial Finance. The PIL contended that the CBI’s FIR, registered on August 21, 2025, covered merely a fraction of the wrongdoing. On February 4, the court had already directed the ED to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT). It had also directed the CBI to probe the possible collusion of bank officials. Anil Ambani had undertaken to remain in India unless the court permitted him to travel.

At the March 23 hearing, before a bench that also included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, the exchanges were pointed. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed the bench that the SIT had been constituted. He stated that assets worth Rs 15,000 crore had been attached and four persons arrested. The bench found the pace wanting. It observed that the agencies’ reluctance was “not acceptable” and that the investigation “must inspire confidence not only in us but everybody.” Bhushan pointed to a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) report identifying a scheme........

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