Opposition MPs including Congress’ Manish Tewari have demanded that the Standing Committee for Finance summon the chief of the capital markets regulator Sebi and senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials on the damning Hindenburg Research report against billionaire Gautam Adani and the ports-to-power conglomerate Adani Group. Other MPs who supported Manish Tewari include Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Pramod Tiwari, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs Pinaki Misra and Amar Patnaik, and TMC MP Saugata Roy.
On the other hand, BJP MPs including Chairman of the Standing Committee for Finance Jayant Sinha, former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sushil Modi, and SS Ahluwalia opposed the demand saying the matter is currently sub-judice and therefore the panel cannot take it up for discussion. The opposition MPs said it was important to summon Sebi and RBI since the issue focuses on safeguarding the national interest, news agency ANI reported.
The opposition further said this is an issue of regulatory matters and falls within the ambit of the Finance Committee. Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given a suspension of business notice in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively seeking a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe in the Adani issue.
The development comes ahead of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s address in the Parliament today. Gautam Adani’s net worth and Adani Group stocks have been on a roller coaster ever since the US-based short-seller Hindenburg claimed the Adani Group was “engaged in brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud” and used offshore entities to manipulate stock prices.
It also identified 38 Mauritius-based shell entities controlled by Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani or his close associates. Adani Group had expressly denied these allegations and called them “malicious”, “baseless”, and a “calculated attack on India.” The conglomerate also said Vinod Adani does not hold any managerial position in any Adani listed companies or their subsidiaries and has no role in managing their day-to-day affairs.
(With agency inputs)
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