New Delhi: The Left parties and the TMC on Thursday demanded an investigation into the allegations of bribery and fraud against Gautam Adani made by US prosecutors.
The billionaire industrialist has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay over USD 250 million (about Rs 2,100 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
This was concealed from the US banks and investors from whom the Adani group raised billions of dollars for the project, the prosecutors have alleged. US law allows pursuing foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets.
The Adani group, however, have denied the charges. In a statement issued here, the CPI(M) said the Modi government "cannot hide behind a smokescreen anymore", and demanded a CBI probe into the charges.
"It is shameful that such large-scale bribery and suborning of government officials by the Adanis had to be exposed not in India but in the United States through their criminal justice system," the CPI(M) said.
"Gautam Adani and his business empire have had the full protection of the Modi government to execute his unlawful and criminal activities. Prime Minister Modi himself had shielded Adani from any enquiry or prosecution on the charges emanating from the Hindenburg expose," it said.
The CPI(M) said a full-fledged investigation by an independent agency is required "to unearth all other wrongdoings by the Adani group of companies".
CPI General Secretary D Raja said the indictment calls into question not just the personal integrity of Adani and his business empire, but also the integrity of Indian watchdogs and administration, under which "such unethical practices are flourishing".
"This indictment follows the 2023 Hindenburg Research revelations which exposed a series of financial irregularities, including stock manipulation and undisclosed liabilities, that inflated the value of Adani Group companies," Raja said in a post on X.
"The lack of transparency and delays in addressing these issues have only fuelled suspicions of complicity and preferential treatment within the regulatory mechanisms. The perception of a compromised investigation has set among the people," he said.
From favourable policies to high-profile infrastructure deals, there is widespread public perception of the complicity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
"Repeated calls for investigation to ensure that all allegations -- whether linked to bribery, stock manipulation, or regulatory failures -- have fallen to the deaf ears of the Modi Government. Only through a fair, unbiased probe can the truth be uncovered," he said.
"In this context, the CPI demands that a joint parliamentary committee be formed to look into the growth, business malpractices and controversies surrounding the Adani Group and their bonhomie with Narendra Modi and the BJP.
"In the absence of a thorough and impartial probe, it will be considered well-established that the Modi government is indeed serving the interests of Adani at the cost of the people," he added. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale raised questions on the Modi government's role.
"Markets are reacting but the government is completely silent. Charges are of bribing a govt-owned PSU. How much is Modi and BJP's involvement?" Gokhale said.
Adani group stocks faced heavy drubbing during the morning trade on Thursday, with the combined market valuation of all the listed firms getting eroded by Rs 2.45 lakh crore. In another post, the Rajya Sabha MP said the key point in the indictment is that bribes were allegedly paid to PSUs and government companies.
"This is deeply rotten... With Indian agencies being compromised and acting as wings of the BJP, only an independent judicial probe will expose the truth," he said. TMC MP Sagarika Ghose also said a free and fair probe was required.
"The allegation by the United States against the Adani Group and Gautam Adani is extremely serious. Gautam Adani is an industrialist who is known to have very close ties with none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Ghose said.
"We the opposition have been consistently demanding a free and fair investigation into all the charges that exist against the Adani Group. All the charges must be subject to a free and fair inquiry," she said.
The only entity which can conduct this free and fair inquiry is a Joint Parliamentary Committee. We demand a JPC for a comprehensive, free and fair investigation into all the charges against the Adani Group, she said.
