Reliance Communications (RCom), once among the major telecom companies of the country, is once again in controversy. The State Bank of India (SBI) has declared the loan account of this bankrupt company as fraud. SBI itself has given this information in a letter sent to the stock exchange. The bank says that RCom misused the loan amount and was wrongly transferred to other companies, making it a case of inter-company transactions and fake invoicing.
What are SBI allegations?
According to SBI, the loan taken by RCom was transferred to the concerned or connected companies rather than the sanctioned purpose. These transactions are also accused of some bogus invoice and wrongly shown business transactions. The bank has called it financial irregularity and fraud. These allegations are related to the year 2016, when the company’s economic condition started to disappear.
Anil Ambani’s lawyer strongly opposed
The move of SBI has been strongly opposed by Anil Ambani. The industrialist’s lawyer has written a letter on 2 July 2025 objecting to the decision to declare SBI a loan account as fraud. The lawyer says that this decision is not only one -sided, but also violates the guidelines and court instructions of the RBI.
Violation of Natural Justice
The lawyer alleges that SBI took a unilateral decision bypassing the principles of natural justice, ie the principles of natural justice. According to Ambani’s representative, neither he was given an opportunity to argue in his favor, nor was any reply on the show cause notice. The letter said that Ambani had questioned the validity of the notice a year ago, but no answer was received from the bank.
RBI guidelines and court decisions ignored
The lawyer clearly stated that SBI’s move not only violates the guidelines related to the Fraud Classification of RBI, but is also against the orders of the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court. He said that according to the rules, the bank should have given the company a chance for personal hearing before confirming the allegations.
Fraud was accused earlier also
Significantly, before SBI, Canara Bank has also declared the loan account of Reliance Communications as fraud. Canara Bank also made the same allegations, citing transfer to connected parties of loan amount and citing inter-company transactions. In such a situation, pointing two big banks to fraud can increase Ambani’s difficulties.
RCom is in bankruptcy process
Anil Ambani’s telecom company has been going through the insolvency process for a long time. In 2019, the company handed over itself to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The company owes several thousand crore rupees to the banks. RCom’s network operation has come to a standstill and its assets are in the auction process.