NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday once again demanded for a thorough probe into the Adani Group’s dealings, despite the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) gave a clean chit to the conglomerate saying that it will await the market regulator findings on the remaining 22 matters, which include allegations of insider trading in Adani Group companies, violations of rules relating to minimum public shareholding, and the 13 “suspicious transactions” that it had told the Supreme Court on 25 August, 2023, that it was investigating.
Congress general secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh issued a detailed statement on the issue and said: “Contrary to the managed headlines, the commercial partner in Modani Enterprises has now received a “clean chit” from SEBI only in two of the twenty matters being investigated by it under a Supreme Court-mandated probe.”
Ramesh said that the Supreme Court, on March 2, 2023, had directed SEBI to “conclude the investigation within two months” following the Hindenburg Report.
“Yet, the first SEBI orders were delivered only after two years and seven months, following repeated extensions and delays,” he said.
The Congress leader said: “We now await SEBI’s findings on the remaining 22 matters, which include allegations of insider trading in Adani Group companies, violations of rules relating to minimum public shareholding, and the 13 “suspicious transactions” that SEBI told the Supreme Court on 25 August, 2023, that it was investigating.”
“These involve offshore dealings by close Adani associates Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the Modani scam, however, extends far beyond the scope of SEBI’s investigations.
“As the Indian National Congress had revealed in its list of hundred questions in the HAHK (Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun) series of questions to the Prime Minister, it also encompasses the misuse of agencies such as the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department to force companies to sell off their assets to the Adani Group, biased privatisation of critical infrastructure assets like airports and ports for the benefit of only the Adani Group, the misuse of diplomatic resources to funnel contracts to the Adani Group in different countries, especially in the neighbourhood,” he said.
He also said that the import of over-invoiced coal by Ahli and Chang, which contributed to sharp increases in the prices of electricity drawn from Adani power stations in Gujarat A Rs 2,000 crore ($250 million) bribery scheme allegedly orchestrated by Gautam Adani and seven associates to secure high-priced solar power contracts in India – regarding which the Modi government has refused, for nearly a year, to serve a US SEC summons to the PM’s partner.
The remarks came after the Sebi in two detailed orders, SEBI disposed of proceedings against Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Ports & SEZ, and Adicorp Enterprises, as well as Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani and others, levelled by U.S.-based Hindenburg Research of routing funds through three entities to hide related party transactions.
The regulator said its probe into alleged related party transactions (RPTs) found no violations under the SEBI Act, Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations, or anti-fraud norms. Transactions flagged by Hindenburg as suspicious were, according to SEBI, regular loan arrangements that were repaid with interest in full.
Congress had hit back at the government over the Hindenburg report over Adani group and targeted the then Sebi chief.
