Rahul Gandhi seeks JPC probe into fresh report on Adani; says India’s reputation at stake

PTI, Aug 31, 2023, 7:03 PM IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into reports that Adani family associates secretly invested ”hundreds of millions” in the company through opaque investment funds based in Mauritius.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Gandhi referred to news articles by some prominent foreign newspapers on Adani Group.

“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,” Gandhi said.

“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,” Gandhi said.

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group was on Thursday hit by fresh allegations that it used family associates to secretly invest hundreds of millions of dollars through ”opaque” Mauritius-based investment funds to fuel the spectacular rise in group stocks from 2013 to 2018. The conglomerate vehemently denied the charge.

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.

Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why the latter had not forced an investigation. “Why is PM Modi silent,” he added.

“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,” Gandhi added.

“India’s reputation is at stake ahead of the G20 meet in the country. PM Modi should take action and get the Adani issue investigated,” he said.