‘Unresolved spinal fractures, peripheral osteoporosis, sarcopenia’: Ex-RCom MD Amitabh Jhunjhunwala granted bail in SBI loan fraud case

A special CBI court on Tuesday granted bail on medical grounds to former Reliance Communications Group managing director Amitabh Jhunjhunwala in a multi-crore State Bank of India loan fraud case.

Special Judge Nitin V Jiwane allowed Jhunjhunwala’s plea, citing his deteriorating health and relying on a recent Delhi High Court order that granted him regular bail in a linked money-laundering case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Jhunjhunwala on June 1. Through his advocates Aabad Ponda, Rahul Agarwal and Jasmine Purani, he sought bail citing unresolved spinal fractures, peripheral osteoporosis, sarcopenia and coronary artery disease. His lawyers argued that these conditions required sustained medical rehabilitation that could not be effectively administered in judicial custody.

Ponda told the court that the Delhi High Court had on September 22 granted Jhunjhunwala regular bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after finding him “sick or infirm”.

The special court noted that his medical condition remained unchanged and held that he was therefore entitled to regular bail on medical grounds in the CBI case as well.

MUST READ | Reliance Finance case gets bigger: CBI chargesheets 17 more over alleged ₹6,229 crore diversion

The court cited the Delhi High Court’s observation that Jhunjhunwala’s condition “requires specialised treatment which is not confined to administration of medicines or symptomatic pain relief, but involves sustained rehabilitation and supervision over a period of time”.

The court granted bail against a personal recognisance bond of ₹1 lakh, along with one or two local sureties in the same amount.

The CBI case stems from an August 2025 complaint by the State Bank of India against Reliance Communications and others, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust that resulted in an initial wrongful loss of ₹2,929.05 crore to the bank.

According to the CBI, SBI disbursed a ₹1,200-crore loan in August 2016 based on purported asset-sale plans to Brookfield. The loan subsequently became non-performing, resulting in an alleged wrongful loss of ₹970.25 crore.

The agency has alleged that Jhunjhunwala, who served as Group Managing Director in the Anil Ambani-led group, exercised substantial control over corporate finance and banking operations and actively participated in the alleged diversion and round-tripping of borrowed funds.