On July 2, 2025, Anil Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Group, said he was shocked to learn that the State Bank of India (SBI) had labeled the Reliance Communications (RCOM) loan account as “fraud.” This decision was made by SBI’s Fraud Identification Committee (FIC) without informing him in advance, according to a statement sent by his lawyers.
The law firm representing Ambani, Agarwal Law Associates, said the bank had not replied to Ambani’s most recent communication for almost a year.
“Our client is surprised to receive this order suddenly, especially since the bank had not responded to our last message for a year,” the lawyers said in the letter.
They also argued that the show-cause notice (a formal warning or explanation request from the bank) was sent before new rules by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came into effect on July 15, 2024. These new rules replaced the older ones under which the notice was issued.
The lawyers added that since the bank remained silent for so long, it gave Ambani and Reliance Communications the impression that SBI had accepted their response and did not plan to take the matter further. Therefore, they believe the show-cause notice should now be withdrawn.
