Court allows CBI to arrest former Reliance ADAG CEO Jhunjhunwala in bank fraud case

Anil Ambani with Amitabh Jhunjhunwala. File Image | Photo credit: The Hindu

A Mumbai court on Monday (Jun 1, 2026) allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to arrest Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, a former senior executive at industrialist Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, in a case related to alleged misuse of bank loans.

Mr. Jhunjhunwala was produced before CBI Special Judge JP Darekar on a production warrant from Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi, where he was in judicial custody in a related money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Following his production, the CBI, represented by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) A Limosin, filed an application for remand and permission to formally arrest the accused.

Advocates Reeti Upadhyay and Mudit Jain, appearing for Jhunjhunwal, argued that the former Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG) executive had to be produced before the court on June 5 as per the production warrant issued by the Delhi court.

His appearance in court before that date is illegal, the defense argued.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the Bombay court allowed the CBI’s request to formally arrest the accused under the provisions of the Act.

As the proceedings continued outside working hours, the CBI told the court that the accused would be produced before it on Tuesday after completing the arrest formalities.

Meanwhile, considering the “special situation” regarding the late hour and the accused’s commuting distance from Delhi, the court remanded Jhunjhunwala to judicial custody.

Mr. Jhunjhunwala, Group CEO of Reliance Communications, looked after important functions like corporate finance, banking, fund utilization among others.

The CBI alleged that on his instructions, the loan funds received from the banks were managed/used by other officials of the RCom group. Due to the misuse of loan funds, the banks suffered unjustified losses, the investigative agency said.

The CBI on Friday filed a chargesheet in the case against 16 individuals/entities. Jhunjhunwala was not named in the chargesheet filed in the special court, but the investigation against him continued.

Among the accused named in the indictment were Reliance Communications, five company executives and ten bank officials.

They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and embezzlement under the IPC and misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI said in a press release.

The charge sheet related to the alleged misuse of a ₹1,200 crore term loan sanctioned by SBI, a ₹500 crore letter of credit sanctioned by Bank of Maharashtra and a ₹350 crore letter of credit sanctioned by Syndicate Bank, it said.

Further investigations have been kept open to look into other loans sanctioned by the consortium of banks and to ascertain the role of other conspirators involved in the alleged diversion and embezzlement of public funds, the CBI said.

The central agency registered a case based on the SBI’s complaint against Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani for allegedly causing a loss of ₹2,929.05 crore to the bank.

A consortium of 11 banks led by SBI has approved ‘Rupee Term Loans’ to Reliance Communications. According to the FIR, the total exposure was ₹19,694.33 crore and involved 17 state-owned banks.

Published – 2 Jun 2026 02:24 IST