India, Dec. 25 -- The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to industrialist Anil Ambani by staying coercive action by three banks seeking to declare the accounts of his companies as "fraud" based on a forensic audit report (FAR) from October 2020.

A single-judge bench of justice Milind Jadhav accepted Ambani's argument that the report, prepared by external auditor BDO India LLP, could not be relied upon as it was not signed by a duly qualified chartered accountant, as required under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Master Directions.

In his prima facie observations, justice Jadhav noted that the balance of convenience lay in Ambani's favour. "...it is preposterous to accept the argument of the banks that an external ...