Bombay High Court denies interim relief to Anil Ambani in suit against banks over fraud tag
Anil Ambani: On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court dealt a blow to industrialist Anil Ambani when it refused to grant him interim relief in three suits filed by him against IOB, IDBI Bank, and Bank of Baroda. Ambani had alleged that the banks' action to declare his accounts as fraudulent was based on a forensic report by BDO India, which was inconsistent with the new RBI Master Direction (July 15, 2024).
Ambani has alleged that the action to declare his accounts as fraudulent was based on a report by BDO India.
Anil Ambani receives no relief from the Bombay High Court
The matter was listed for hearing before a bench headed by Justice Milind Jadhav on Wednesday, but a detailed hearing could not be held due to time constraints. Just before the end of the day, Ambani's lawyer, senior advocate Gaurav Joshi, cited the three cases and sought interim protection. He argued that the banks should not take any action against Ambani until the hearing is held.
Bombay High Court in the IDBI and BoB cases
However, advocate Zareer Bharucha, representing IDBI Bank, senior advocate Kevik Stelvad, representing Bank of Baroda, and advocate Kunal Dwarkadas, representing BDO, strongly opposed this demand. Bharucha told the court that, under the principles of justice, IDBI had granted Ambani a personal hearing. It was also argued that Ambani had previously withdrawn his writ petition against IDBI's action.
Court will hear the case next on December 17th
After hearing the case, the court refused to grant any interim stay and directed the banks to file their replies, setting the next hearing for December 17th.
Ambani calls BDO India's report illegal in court
Ambani's main argument is that BDO India is not recognized as an "auditor" under Indian law because it is not registered with the ICAI. According to new RBI guidelines, fraud investigations can only be conducted by an external auditor authorized under the Companies Act. On this basis, Ambani has declared BDO's report illegal.
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Summary
It is noteworthy that based on this report, several banks, including SBI, declared Ambani's accounts as "fraudulent," and an FIR was also filed with the CBI. A demand for a court-monitored investigation into the actions taken based on this report is also pending in the Supreme Court.
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