New Delhi: Congress demanded discussion on the Adani indictment in the Parliament as both houses will meet for the third day of the winter session on Wednesday.
Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Manish Tewari moved adjournment notices in this regard before the commencement of the session today.
In a notice addressed to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha today, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, "I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance."
"The recent US indictment of Gautam Adani, involving over $265 million in bribes for solar power deals and securities fraud, casts a dark shadow over the Adani Group. The silence of the Modi government on this matter raises concerns about India's integrity and global standing. PM Modi must answer questions regarding his friendship with Adani," said the notice.
Adding further, the letter read, "The Andhra Pradesh government is reportedly considering scrapping its solar power deal with SECI, alleging that Adani paid 21,750 crore in bribes to the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. I demand an immediate discussion and a CBI inquiry into these allegations."
Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala also issued a notice on the same subject and said, "I hereby give notice under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to move the following motion for the suspension of business listed for November 27, 2024. That this House suspend all scheduled business to discuss the serious revelations in a US court indictment alleging that the Adani Group engaged in bribery of state officials to secure power supply agreements through SECl tenders."
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"These allegations point to systemic corruption in public procurement processes and highlight grave regulatory lapses in ensuring fair competition. The indictment also raises critical concerns about the corrosion of institutional integrity, misuse of public sector entities, and the lack of transparency in dealings by regulatory bodies like SEBI under its chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch," read the notice.
"This matter necessitates the immediate consultation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the implications of these allegations for governance, public accountability, and the credibility of India's democratic institutions," it added.
Surjewala has also given a Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue of the indictment of Gautam Adani.
Congress MP Manish Tewari also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha and demanded discussion on the "impact on India as a business destination and the robustness of our regulatory and oversight processes, following two indictments in the United States against the Adani conglomerate."
However, earlier in the day, the Adani Group refuted the alleged bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the Group's founder and Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and MD CEO Adani Green Energy Vineet Jaain in a filing with the stock exchanges.
In its filing, AGEL has cited the news reporting on the alleged bribery and corruption charges against Adani officials as 'incorrect'.
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"Media articles state that certain of our directors, namely Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, have been charged with violation(s) of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment. Such statements are incorrect," said the statement by Adani Green Energy Ltd."Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC," it added.
In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant.
The filing states that the DoJ Indictment, which has five counts, does not have any mention of and has excluded Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani or Vneet Jaain in Count One: ''Conspiracy to Violate the FCPA'; nor does it have mention of these three names in Count Five: "Conspiracy to obstruct Justice." Count One of the indictment, which refers to the corruption and bribery charges, only involves Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal of Azure Power and CDPQ (Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec), a Canadian institutional investor and Azure's largest shareholder.
The statement says that Adani officials are only charged for Count 2: "alleged securities fraud conspiracy," Count 3: "alleged wire fraud conspiracy," and Count "alleged securities fraud." The DoJ Indictment offers no evidence that bribes were paid by Adani executives to Indian government officials; the indictment and the complaint solely rest on claims that bribes were promised or discussed.
The Adani Group is one of India's largest infrastructure players with sizeable operations in the global energy and logistics space. Over the past few years, the Indian conglomerate has been expanding its operations in international markets and directly competes with several US and Chinese entities in Africa, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Australia, etc.
Since the intimation of the US DoJ Indictment, the group has suffered a loss of nearly USD 55 billion in its market capitalization across its 11 listed companies. (with Agency inputs)
