'Explain fraud tag on a/c of Ambani firm'

The Bombay high court on Friday issued notices to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Bank of India regarding the bypassing RBI's master circular while classifying the loan accounts of businessman Anil Ambani as "fraudulent".

- Karuna Nidhi

MUMBAI:

"We are repeatedly coming across cases where banks declare accounts as fraudulent without following the guidelines issued by the RBI," the division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale said while rapping the UBI for classifying the accounts of Reliance Communications, founded by Ambani, as fraudulent without granting him a hearing.

The case dates back to January 2024, when Union Bank issued a show cause notice to Reliance Communications, saying its loan account would be classified as "fraudulent" as it had allegedly sanctioned several credit facilities like term loans, guarantees, and letters of credit under a non-fund-based credit limit of ₹1,050 crore. Ambani pleaded for an opportunity to be heard before a decision was taken on the accounts but was not granted the same.