New Delhi: The government is “running away” from a JPC probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue, the Congress alleged on Tuesday and said it should allow the investigation if it has nothing to hide.
The Congress’ attack on the government came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s reported remarks that there is nothing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hide or be afraid of in the matter.
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said he has written to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch for an impartial probe into allegations against the Adani Group.
Reacting to Shah’s reported remarks, Ramesh said,”if they do not have anything to hide, why are they running away from a Joint Parliamentary Committee (probe).”
“They do not even allow us to raise the demand of the JPC in Parliament. When our leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge ji, raised the demand for JPC, their remarks were expunged,” Ramesh said.
If there is nothing to hide, the government should allow a JPC, he stressed.
On Monday, the government agreed to the Supreme Court’s proposal to set up a panel of experts to look into strengthening regulatory mechanisms for the stock market in the wake of the recent crash of Adani Group shares triggered by Hindenburg Research’s fraud allegations.
Saying it has no objection to constituting the panel, the Central government also stressed that market regulator SEBI and other statutory bodies are “fully equipped” to deal with the situation, not only regime-wise but otherwise as well.
According to Ramesh, it is important to look at the petition filed in the top court.
The investigation should be against Adani and its ties with the government, the Congress leader said.
He also clarified that the Congress is in favour of private investments, which need to be encouraged.
“We have always said we are in favour of entrepreneurship and that is the way forward for economic development. We are against blind privatisation and selling of PSUs.”
The Congress, Ramesh said, backs liberalisation but this should be on the basis of rules and institutions which should function independently so rules can be applied in an impartial and transparent manner. Our fight is against crony capitalism, he asserted.
He also claimed that all opposition parties are on the same page in demanding a JPC probe into the Adani issue.
Ramesh also asserted that Rahul Gandhi will not apologise for the remarks in Parliament and will continue to ask questions of the government.
The party will hold press conferences in various cities across the country on February 17 as part of efforts to continue raising its voice on this issue, he added.
Ramesh also posted on Twitter a set of three questions to the prime minister as part of the “Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun” series.
In a statement addressed to the Prime Minister, Ramesh said the UPA government in its efforts to strengthen economic relations with neighbours had signed an MoU in 2010 for the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to set up a 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Bagerhat, Bangladesh.
After coming to power, the Modi government decided to help its “Double A” friends instead. During the prime minister’s June 2015 visit to Dhaka, it was announced that Adani Power and Reliance Power would construct thermal power plants to supply electricity to Bangladesh, Ramesh alleged.
“Is it true that you put pressure on your counterpart PM Sheikh Hasina to accept terms that were extremely favourable to Adani Power and unfavourable to Bangladesh,” Ramesh asked.
He also alleged that in February 2018, Adani Power had applied to set up the Godda power plant as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to avail of tax benefits.
“However, the Ministry of Commerce denied this request because it conflicted with guidelines that prohibited the establishment of a standalone power plant inside an SEZ. Yet on January 9, 2019, the Ministry of Commerce changed its view and amended those guidelines,” he claimed.
Shortly after, on February 25, 2019, the Board of Approval for SEZs approved Adani Power’s application, Ramesh said and asked what was the role of the Prime Minister’s Office in this policy change that allegedly “benefitted” Adani Power.
The Hindenburg report had levelled financial irregularities and stock manipulation allegations against Adani group companies. The Adani group has dismissed the allegations as baseless.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Jaya Thakur has filed in the Supreme Court seeking investigation under the supervision of a sitting apex court judge against the Adani Group of companies in light of the disclosure made by the Hindenburg Research report.
The plea has also sought a direction to the probe agencies to investigate the role of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the State Bank of India (SBI) in investing huge amount of public money in the FPO of Adani Enterprises, allegedly at a “much higher rate” than the prevailing share price in the secondary market.
