New Delhi: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that he cannot respond to petitions questioning why industrialist Anil Ambani had not been arrested. He made the statement before the court during the hearing of a plea seeking a probe into an alleged ₹40,000 crore fraud involving the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAGP), Live Law reported.
"I will not be able to respond why some X is not arrested or Y is not arrested...it's not..." Mehta told the court.
When questioned about the absence of any arrest of the group chairman, the Centre maintained that such decisions fall within the domain of investigating agencies and cannot be dictated or explained in court at this stage.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that despite regulatory findings describing Ambani as ‘mastermind’ in the alleged fraud, he remains free while lower-level employees have faced arrest. The Centre informed the court that status reports had already been submitted by both the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate, adding that arrests can only follow due investigation.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, has earlier expressed concern over what it viewed as reluctance on the part of agencies to question individuals at the highest level. It has now been directed that the investigation be carried out transparently and completed within a defined timeframe.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has already attached assets worth around ₹15,000 crore linked to Ambani, including the high-profile Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai valued at ₹4,400 crore.
The proceedings have intensified scrutiny over the pace and direction of the investigation, particularly the apparent gap between the scale of allegations and the action taken so far.