The Congress on April 23 reiterated its position of setting up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to investigate allegations of violations of rules by the Adani Group, if the party came to power at the Centre.
Party general secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh claimed that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had found that certain offshore funds invested in the Adani Group “violated disclosure rules and breached investment limit”.
Mr. Ramesh, in a statement, alleged that after years of “prevarication and timidity”, India’s stock market regulator appeared to have finally identified the key players of the Adani MegaScam.
“Far from the ‘clean chit’ that Modani and the Godi media claimed last year, a Reuters news report suggests 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’. Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi’s strong and personal electoral bond with Adani cannot cover up his close friend’s illegality any longer,” the Congress leader alleged.
Mr. Ramesh claimed that the needle of suspicion pointed directly to close Adani associates Nasser Ali Shahban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling. He said it was previously reported that SEBI was investigating Mr. Ahli’s British Virgin Island-incorporated shell company Gulf Asia Trade & Investment for violating share ownership rules and “for potentially acting in concert with the Adani Group to manipulate share values and to carry out money laundering and round tripping through offshore tax havens”.
He also noted that the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) had previously revealed that Mr. Chang and Mr. Ahli used benami funds to amass large stakes in the Adani Group between 2013 and 2018.
“At the peak of their investment, these individuals controlled between 8-14% of shares in Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Adani Transmissions; ₹20,000 crore of benami funds have flowed into Adani Group companies as a result of these transactions. We look forward to the immediate publication of SEBI’s long-delayed report on these gross violations of Indian securities laws in the Adani MegaScam,” he said.
The Congress leader alleged that the latest revelations about possible violations by offshore funds was part of a series of violations by the Adani Group.
He claimed that the “miraculous” doubling of the price of coal in transit from Indonesia to India, misuse of agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and Income Tax to force firms to divest assets in critical infrastructure sectors and help the Adani group acquire assets, and using diplomatic resources to funnel contracts to the group in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries required a thorough investigation.
“Only a JPC can investigate the full extent of the Adani MegaScam. This will happen in June 2024, as soon as the INDIA coalition takes office,” he asserted.
