AMN / MUMBAI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the fresh allegations against the Adani Group.
Addressing a press conference here ahead of the I.N.D.I.A meeting, Gandhi referred to news articles by foreign newspapers on Adani. “These are not random newspapers. These newspapers affect investment in India and the perception of India in the rest of the world. They are stating that over a billion dollars of money went from India, was circulated in different places and then came back to India”, he said.
“The first question arises – whose money is this? Is it Adani’s or someone else’s? The mastermind behind this is a gentleman called Vinod Adani who is the brother of Gautam Adani. There are two other people who are involved in this round-tripping of money. One is a gentleman called Nasir Ali Shaban Ahli and another is a Chinese gentleman called Chang Chung Ling”, he said.
“So, the second question arises – why are these two foreign nationals being allowed to play with the valuation of one of the companies that controls almost all of Indian infrastructure”, Rahul Gandhi added.
“The gentleman who conducted SEBI investigation and gave a clean chit to Adani Group is now a director on a media company owned by the same group”, the Congress leader said.
An article by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) alleged that millions of dollars were invested in some publicly traded stocks of Adani Group through ‘opaque’ Mauritius funds that “obscured” involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family.
“Just before the leaders of G20 are coming here, they are going to be asking what is this special company that is owned by a gentleman close to the PM and why is it in an economy like India this gentleman is being given a free ride”?
Continuing his attack, Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why the latter had not forced an investigation. “Why is he quiet and people who are responsible are put behind bars? This is raising very serious questions on the PM just before G20 leaders come here…It is important that this issue is made clear before they (G20 leaders) arrive”, he said.