Anil Ambani is once again in the news, this time after several prominent people on social media started writing about huge defaults by his group companies which have reached near Rs. 100,000-crore mark. Most of his group companies and their assets are being sold by banks and SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan is asking why the Modi government is soft-pedalling the issue while going after relatively smaller defaulters like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and the Ruias of the Essar group.

While Ambani’s defaults are quite well-known in financial circles, the question is: Why is Ambani being targeted in social media now? Insiders say that as Modi is facing unprecedented protests by farmers in New Delhi, the Opposition is realising that they have finally cornered the government over the farm bills. The attack on Mukesh Ambani’s telecom towers in Punjab and on Anil Ambani’s massive defaults are just part of the Opposition’s gameplan to show how Modi favours cronies.

The big question is: How will the Modi government steer clear of the defaults by Mr Ambani and make it a nonissue? Realising that a very long rope has been given to a big defaulter like Anil Ambani, the government has now woken up and a move is afoot to take action in this case of the biggest loan default in the history of the Indian banking sector. Some public sector banks led by State Bank of India have approached the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate with a complaint against Mr Ambani. Three ADA group companies, viz. Reliance Communications (RCom), Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom, are reported to have been accused of fraud by three PSU banks, viz. SBI, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank. The amount at stake is nearly ten times more than the debt garnered by former billionaires Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. The public is wonderstruck that despite such a huge fraud, no action has been taken so far against the topmost defaulter of bank loans in the country so far. Mr. Anil Ambani, who had told a UK court that his “net worth was zero” and he was bankrupt, now finds himself under the scanner of the State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India (UBI) and the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), who are not willing to buy his story. It is said that the three ADA group companies are going to be subjected to a deeper probe into the transactions from their accounts by the three banks, including India’s largest lender. The Delhi High Court has, however, directed Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank to maintain the status quo in a matter pertaining to the classification of accounts as fraudulent until the next hearing on January 13.

However, the classification of Ambani’s companies as fraudulent comes at a time when the bankruptcy resolution was finally moving along. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its approval to the resolution plan on December 5 after at least 11 months of negotiations.

In regards to the prospects of RCom’s bankruptcy resolution process in the wake of the reclassification of accounts, it is said that the NCLT will have to stay the process since the tribunal cannot admit the petition as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).

Depending on what the High Court decides on the stay of reclassification of his accounts by two banks, the future of course for Mr Ambani’s fortune depends on January 13th hearing. The due process it is said, will be followed by filing an FIR against the fraud and Mr Ambani may face the music from investigating agencies. But it seems the things have started moving with the authorities and some action is considered imminent.