Gautam Adani US indictment: Leaders of several parties in the INDIA bloc protested the US indictment of the billionaire industrialist on Wednesday and called for a joint parliamentary inquiry. The parties said the JPC was necessary in view of various allegations against the conglomerate in several scams.
This comes after US prosecutors accused Adani and the company of bribing Indian officials in exchange for favorable conditions for solar energy projects. US prosecutors have named several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir, as participating in the Rs 2,200-crore bribery scheme for which the company and the states signed sales contracts between July 2021 and February 2022 year.
While Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi did not attend Wednesday’s protest, other MPs from the Congress, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK and Left parties took part. They raised slogans in support of their demand while holding a placard reading ‘Modi-Adani is one’. TMC did not participate in the protests.
Apart from the JPC, Gandhi also sought the immediate arrest of Gautam Adani.
On Tuesday, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued an advisory — MPs staged a protest at the same venue on Tuesday — to MPs urging them not to stage protests in front of Parliament’s gates, saying such obstruction could affect security.
BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS IN THE US: WHAT ADANI SAYS
Speaking at the 51st Gem & Jewelery Awards on November 30, Gautam Adani said, “This is not the first time we have faced such challenges.” “As most of you read less than 2 weeks ago, we faced a number of allegations from the US regarding compliance practices at Adani Green Energy. Despitea large number of authoritative reports, no one from Adani has been charged with violating the FCPA or conspiring to obstruct justice. In today’s world, negativity travels faster than facts. While we work on the legal process, I want to reiterate our full commitment to complying with world-class regulatory requirements…,” he said.
Shortly after the US indictment hit the newspapers, the conglomerate called the allegations baseless. “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied. As the US Department of Justice itself has stated, “the charges in the indictment are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” All possible remedies will be applied,” the group said.
Later, Adani Jugeshinder CFO Robi Singh also said the allegations related to one Adani Green contract, which includes 10 percent of the energy company’s business. The Adani Group has 11 publicly traded companies, Singh said, and none are indictable, and no one has been accused of any wrongdoing.
