The Delhi High Court has refused to grant regular bail to Ashok Kumar Pal, former Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Ltd, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged fake bank guarantee worth ₹68.2 crore. Justice Madhu Jain dismissed the bail plea on Wednesday, stating that "no ground was made out to give him reprieve in the case probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act." The court concluded that "the twin conditions prescribed under Section 45 of the PMLA (for granting bail) are, therefore, not satisfied at this stage." Pal was arrested by the ED on October 10, 2025, and worked as CFO from January 29, 2023 to October 11, 2025, also serving as an authorised signatory of Reliance NU BESS Limited.
The money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) regarding a bank guarantee of ₹68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power - an Anil Ambani group company. As reported by Business Standard, the case was alleged to involve "fake" bank guarantees against a commission of 8 per cent. The case originated from a June 2024 tender floated by SECI for the development of a 1,000 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project, where Reliance Power had entered into an arrangement with Biswal Tradelink for the procurement of a bank guarantee. In September 2024, SECI issued a show-cause notice stating that the bank guarantee submitted for the tender was found to be false, and subsequently barred Reliance Power and its subsidiary from participating in SECI tenders for three years.
Justice Jain considered the allegations and material before the court, stating that "the court is unable to conclude that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Pal was not guilty of money laundering." The court examined statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA, documentary material and electronic communications collected during the investigation. Pal argued that he had no knowledge of the alleged forgery and acted only in his official capacity, but the court noted that "the ex-CFO's claim that he had no knowledge of the alleged forgery and acted only in his official capacity would be considered during the trial when evidence is appreciated." The ED argued that contrary to Pal's stand that he played a limited role in company affairs, the material demonstrated his direct and active involvement in executing the agreements and correspondences under probe.
Reliance Power has stated that it was "a victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy" in this case and made due disclosures to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024. The debarment order was stayed by the Delhi High Court on November 26, 2024. Pal subsequently lodged a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing against Biswal Tradelink, based on which a First Information Report (FIR) was registered in Delhi. The ED later initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, into the alleged fake bank guarantee transaction. During the course of the probe, the agency named Pal as an accused in its supplementary prosecution complaint and arrested him in October 2025.
