SC says on ADAG probe, we are very ashamed to order arrests

New Delhi: Supreme Court On Friday it said it would be extremely shy about ordering any arrest as it is monitoring the CBI and ED probe into the Anil Ambani-led ADAG firm for alleged misappropriation of Rs 30,000 crore from bank loans.Petitioner IAS officer (retd) EASSArma said through lawyer Prashant Bhushan that although the name of one of the bank loan fraud scam cases was listed in the CBI charge sheet Anil Ambanihis son Jai Anmol Ambani and Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank, the investigating agency only arrested ADAG officials instead of touching the “kingpin” like a “sacred cow”.

SC: We do not express an opinion on the correctness of arrest or non-arrest

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said: “The SC has repeatedly said that it will be extremely cautious about arresting any individual outright. Attention must be paid to the collection and preservation of evidence and the protection of witnesses…”“While overseeing the investigation, we will not take any opinion on the rightness of arresting or not arresting anyone. In order to conduct the investigation effectively, each agency is best placed to decide how to proceed…” CJI Kant said.The judge rejected ADAG’s request to insert a line in the order to indicate that the SC had not yet formed an opinion on the merits of the case and that the court’s supervision of the investigation did not imply the contrary.The SC said the jurisprudence of continuous discharge of duty developed while overseeing the CBI’s probe into the Jain-Hawala scam in the Vineet Narain case of the 1990s is a principle of which the court should be proud. However, the observations made during the court-supervised investigation have caused huge collateral damage to the reputations of many people. “The consequences are devastating. That is why we do not comment on the investigation,” the Supreme Court clarified.Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present at the CBI, said that the CBI has so far registered 9 FIRs against different ADAG entities, out of which 7 FIRs involve a total amount of Rs 27,337 crore. He described the general situation and progress of the investigation, saying that four people had been arrested and 31 warning notices had been issued.When Bhushan persisted in complaining that the agencies concerned were not arresting Anil Ambani, the latter’s lawyer Kapil Sibal said that the only agenda seemed to be to arrest Anil Ambani. “He has cooperated with the investigation and is not a flight risk,” he said.ADAG’s senior advocate Shyam Divan said the attachment orders against Reliance Power and Reliance Infra have led to reputational damage to the two companies. Sibal and Divan repeatedly tried to persuade the judge to write a line in the order – “The SC has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case…” The judge did not accept Sibal’s request.