The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Union Bank of India to explain whether it had issued a show cause notice to industrialist Anil Ambani’s son, Jai Anmol Ambani, before declaring his company’s account as fraudulent.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Jai Anmol Ambani, the son of well-known industrialist Anil Ambani, along with Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) in a major bank fraud case. The case is linked to an alleged loss of ₹228 crore to Union Bank of India. The CBI took action after receiving a complaint from the bank (e-Andhra Bank). Apart from Jai Anmol Ambani, the agency has also named Ravindra Sharad Sudhakar, who is a director in Reliance Home Finance.
While Anil Ambani has been named by the CBI and ED in their investigations of bank fraud, this is the first time his son is booked in the case. Earlier in October, the CBI said in a chargesheet related to Yes Bank and the Reliance Group that it is probing the role of Jai Ambani in the matter, who was an Executive Director of Reliance Capital and Reliance Nippon at the time.
According to the complaint, Reliance Home Finance had taken credit limits of nearly ₹450 crore from Union Bank’s SCF branch in Mumbai for business purposes. The bank had set clear conditions for the loan, including timely repayment, regular payment of interest, proper submission of security details, and routing all sales income through the bank account.
However, the company failed to repay its loan instalments on time. Due to this, the account was declared a non-performing asset (NPA) on September 30, 2019.
A forensic audit of the company’s accounts was later conducted by Grant Thornton for the period from April 2016 to June 2019. The audit reportedly found that the loan money was wrongly used and diverted for purposes other than what it was approved for.
The bank has alleged that the former promoters and directors of the company misused the funds by manipulating accounts, committing criminal breach of trust, and diverting the money for personal or unauthorised use.
Ambani’s Challenge Before the High Court
Jai Anmol Ambani challenged the bank’s decision, arguing that Union Bank of India declared the account fraudulent without giving him any notice or a personal hearing, which violates the principles of natural justice. His petition also points to the Supreme Court’s ruling in State Bank of India v Rajesh Agarwal, where the Court held that banks must give borrowers prior notice and an opportunity to respond before classifying an account as fraud.
The matter will be heard again on December 19. The Court remarked:
“I am not saying give them a clean chit, but they must be given a show cause notice.”
