Delhi HC asks SBI to maintain status quo on accounts of Anil Ambani’s firms

The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked SBI to maintain status quo with regard to accounts of Anil Ambani’s firms — RCom, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel, which have been declared by the bank as fraud accounts.

Justice Prateek Jalan passed the order on a plea by erstwhile directors of the three companies challenging a 2016 circular of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding declaration of accounts as fraud by banks.

According to the plea, the circular allows banks to declare an account as fraud without giving any prior notice or communication to the account holder against the principles of natural justice. Their lawyers told the court that several similar petitions against the circular have been filed since 2019 and the petitioners in those matters have been protected by the high court.