New Delhi: The Congress has said that it will institute a Joint Parliamentary Committee or JPC, which “can investigate the full extent of the Adani MegaScam. This will happen in June 2024, as soon as the INDIA coalition takes office.”
The Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, MP and general secretary in-charge communications, has said that “only a JPC” can get to the bottom of what they have termed the Adani MegaScam.
Referring to a Reuters news story published yesterday which reports that SEBI has found that “a dozen offshore funds invested in Adani Group companies were in violation of disclosure rules and in breach of investment limits”, Ramesh said “PM Modi’s strong and personal electoral bond with Adani cannot cover up his close friend’s illegality any longer.”
He has called for the “immediate publication of SEBI’s long-delayed report on these gross violations of Indian securities laws in the Adani MegaScam.” Citing other aspects of the MegaScam, Ramesh has listed the following:
“The miraculous doubling, on the high seas, of the price of coal being imported by Adani from Indonesia for power plants in India – whose cost was passed on to Indian consumers already bearing the brunt of high electricity prices;”
Also, the “misuse of agencies like the ED, CBI, and Income Tax to force firms to divest assets in critical infrastructure sectors and help the PM’s close friend(s) amass assets and monopolies;”
And, “using our diplomatic resources to funnel contracts to Adani in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries.”
Short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report last year in January triggered several actions, including pressure on market regulator SEBI to make statements to the Supreme Court on the company’s alleged irregularities. The Adani Group has denied all allegations.
The BJP has managed to not allow a JPC to be set up on the serious charges levelled in the Hindenburg report and also later by many investigative journalists and financial portals like The Financial Times and Bloomberg.
The BJP-led government has consistently evaded the Adani question, especially over his personal proximity to PM Narendra Modi. The Lok Sabha Speaker has denied any opportunity to the Opposition to specifically discuss the issue in parliament and the hasty expulsion of Opposition MP Mohua Mitra is also likely linked to the number of parliamentary questions on Adani she has raised. In fact, lawyer Jai Anant Dehadarai, an ex-partner of Mitra, alleged in his complaint which led to her sacking from the House, that “Mitra asked 50 questions in parliament out of total 61 which was with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interest of Hiranandani and his company. The questions were meant to target the Adani group and through his referencing, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah”, as per Businessline.
