Reliance Power Limited announced on Friday that its Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Ashok Kumar Pal, has relinquished his positions with immediate effect following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In a statement, the company said: “Shri Ashok Kumar Pal has demitted the office of Executive Director and CFO with immediate effect to assist the investigation. The formal letter will follow, and the requisite disclosures will be made.”

Reliance Power added: “We, along with our subsidiaries, have acted bona fide and are victims of fraud, forgery and a cheating conspiracy. Appropriate legal steps will be taken as advised.”

The company also clarified media reports linking Anil D. Ambani to the matter, stating: “Mr Anil D. Ambani has not been on the Board of Reliance Power Limited for more than three and a half years and is not concerned with this matter in any manner.”

Pal, a Chartered Accountant associated with Reliance Power for over seven years and appointed CFO on January 29, 2023, was arrested by the ED late Thursday night. He was produced before a court on Friday morning, which granted the ED two days’ custody.

The arrest relates to a suspected Rs 68.2 crore fake bank guarantee submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a public sector company under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The case originates from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in November 2024, following a criminal complaint lodged by Reliance Power in October 2024 concerning a third-party arranged fake endorsement of a foreign bank guarantee.

The ED had recently conducted searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) across multiple locations, including Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, as part of a widening probe into alleged financial irregularities involving the Reliance Group.