LIVE | US indictment of Adani: Arrest Adani immediately, Congress tells PM Modi
The allegations have given ammunition to Opposition with the Congress demanding a JPC probe into Adani Group’s dealings and Gautam Adani's immediate arrest
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of an elaborate scheme to pay $265 million (about Rs 2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
The bombshell allegations, which Adani group denied saying it is innocent until proven guilty, may have a widespread fallout ranging from reputational risk to the conglomerate, inability to raise funds from the US market and the billionaire being forced to restrict his overseas travels to opening a political pandora's box that will give the Opposition another tool to target the government just as Parliament meets for the winter session, starting Monday.
The allegations have given fresh ammunition to Opposition parties with the Congress demanding a joint parliamentary probe into Adani Group’s dealings and immediate arrest of Gautam Adani.
Adani, India's second-richest man, and seven others, including his nephew Sagar, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with paying bribes to unidentified officials of state governments in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than USD 2 billion in profit over 20 years.
Prosecutors said the US started an investigation in 2022. They alleged that the group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies as well as reports of the bribery probe.
While the Adani group denied all charges and termed them baseless, it scrapped a USD 600 million bond issue by Adani Green Energy Ltd. The issue was oversubscribed three times hours before the indictment.
Read/watch The Federal’s stories on the issue:
Also read: US indictment against Gautam Adani could spark international probes, investor exodus
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has urged the Centre to immediately take action against billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, following his indictment in the US in a bribery case.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of shielding Adani, he said the Congress will raise the issue during the upcoming Parliament session and demand an inquiry into the charges.
"We will raise the issue in the Parliament and we will demand an inquiry. As he (Adani) is in India, action should be taken against him, he should be arrested. The government knows everything, so they should quickly take action against him in corruption cases," Kharge told reporters in Bengaluru.
RJD president Lalu Prasad on Friday came out strongly in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for "immediate arrest" of leading industrialist Gautam Adani.
The former chief minister of Bihar was responding to queries from journalists here about Rahul Gandhi's statement on the previous day, in the backdrop of charges of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US.
"Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested," said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.
The RJD president, who incidentally has been convicted in several fodder scam cases and is on bail, was also asked about prospects of the INDIA bloc, of which his party is a part, in Jharkhand, where the counting of votes for assembly polls is scheduled on Saturday.
The ailing septuagenarian replied, "I would like to remain focused on my statement that Adani must be arrested. I am not worried much about a new government (in Jharkhand) where we are already in power." Jharkhand witnessed a straight battle between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA, which included the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, Prasad's arch-rival and the current chief minister of Bihar.
The BJD which was in power in Odisha from 2000 till June 2024, on Friday, said the allegations that state government officials took bribes from the Adani Group for supply of renewable energy to the state from the central pool, are "false and not based on fact."
Adani, India's second-richest man, and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with paying bribes to unidentified government officials of several states including Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than USD 2 billion in profit over 20 years. Adani Group, however, denied the charges saying the allegations by US prosecutors are "baseless" and the conglomerate is "compliant with all laws".
Former Odisha Energy minister and BJD MLA PK Deb said, "The types of allegations made in the name of Odisha are baseless and not based on facts." "The Government of Odisha has nothing to do with the agreement. Whatever agreement was done that remained confined among Gridco, the distribution company and the SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited), a central PSU. The state government has no role in all these matters though the administration was informed regarding the PSA", Deb told PTI.
"All the agreements on power get the approval of the OERC (Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission), an autonomous body. The Gridco is also semi-autonomous. Therefore, the state government has no direct role in the agreements. Neither the Energy department minister nor the secretary are involved in all such agreements", Deb said.
With the US filing civil and criminal charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and seven others over a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme, a prominent attorney in New York has said that the case could escalate significantly, potentially leading to arrest warrants and even extradition attempts.
“US Attorney Breon Peace has the right to get arrest warrants issued against Adani and seven others indicted and serve them on the nations where they reside,” Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra told PTI on Thursday (November 21).
He further said, “If that nation, as India does, has an extradition treaty, then according to the bilateral contract between sovereign nations, the resident nation must turn over the person extradited by the United States. There is a process that the resident nation must comply with, consistent with its laws.”
Batra noted that ultimately, extradition occurs “absent the rarest of circumstances”, as in the case of former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet. The United Kingdom did not extradite him solely on humanitarian grounds.
"It’s hard to see the Pinochet precedent apply to this case involving Adani and seven others," he said.
The India-US Extradition Treaty was signed in 1997.
In a statement on Wednesday (November 20), Peace said the defendants orchestrated an “elaborate scheme” to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and Adani, Sagar and Jaain “lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from US and international investors”.
Batra said the US law “develops very long arms when our capital markets are involved...While the eight-charged defendants have constitutional presumptive innocence, that evaporates if an honest and thoughtful defence, if one exists, is not proffered skillfully".
According to the US Justice Department, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits paying foreign officials to influence actions, induce unlawful omissions, or secure improper advantages.
Shares of eight of the 10 listed Adani group firms were trading lower during the morning trade on Friday after the billionaire was charged by US prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay USD 265 million (about Rs 2,200 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
Adani Green Energy dropped 10.95 per cent and Adani Energy Solutions tumbled 8.57 per cent to hit the 52-week low of Rs 637.85 on the BSE.
The stock of the group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, slumped 6.98 per cent to hit its 52-week low of Rs 2,030.
Shares of Adani Power tanked 6.38 per cent, Adani Total Gas went lower by 6.11 per cent, Adani Ports declined 5.31 per cent, Adani Wilmar plunged 5.17 per cent to hit the one-year low of Rs 279.20 and NDTV dipped 3.41 per cent.
In contrast, ACC and Ambuja Cements were trading over 2 per cent higher even after falling in the opening deals.
In the equity market, the BSE benchmark Sensex quoted 781.02 points higher at 77,936.81 and the NSE Nifty climbed 228.90 points to 23,578.80.
Asserting that the relationship between India and the US is built on a strong foundation, the White House has expressed confidence that it can navigate the ongoing crisis surrounding bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
At her daily news conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the administration is aware of the charges against Adani.
Adani 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.
“Obviously we're aware of these allegations, and I would have to refer you to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and DOJ (Department of Justice) about the specifics of those allegations against the Adani Group,” she said. “What I will say is on the US and India relationship, we believe that it stands on an extremely strong foundation anchored in ties between our people and cooperation across a full range of global issues,” Jean-Pierre said.
“What we believe and we're confident about is that we'll continue to navigate this issue as we have with other issues that may have come up as you just stated. And so the specifics of this, this is something that the SEC and DOJ can speak to directly, but again, we believe that…this relationship between India and the US has been built on a strong foundation,” the Press Secretary said.
Telugu Desam Party, a key ally of NDA, will react only after going through the issue of Adani Group allegedly paying bribes for solar power contracts in Andhra Pradesh, said party spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram on Thursday.
"We need to study the report before coming to a conclusion. It would take two to three days," he told PTI when asked about the party's reaction.
Gautam Adani, India's second-richest man, and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with paying bribes to unidentified officials of state governments in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than USD 2 billion in profit over 20 years.
Adani Group, however, denied the charges saying the allegations by US prosecutors are "baseless" and the conglomerate is "compliant with all laws."
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Congress leader Kolanukonda Sivaji alleged that Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are the same, and called for a suo motu probe by the Supreme Court.
“Over the past decade, the NDA government has been unethically and unilaterally surrendering public assets to billionaire Adani and we oppose it,” he told PTI.
Further, he called for action against Andhra Pradesh officials involved in this alleged scam.
The YSRCP on Thursday said its government had no direct agreement with Adani Group and the power sale pact signed in 2021 was between the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) and AP Discoms.
Jagan Mohan-led party's reaction came in response to Adani Group getting indicted by the US Department of Justice for allegedly paying bribes for solar power contracts in Andhra Pradesh during YSRCP rule.
In a statement, the party said the power procurement of 7,000 MW was approved by AP Electricity Regulatory Commission in November, 2021 after which the Power Sale Agreement (PSA) was signed on December 1, 2021 between SECI and AP Discoms.
"It is necessary to mention that SECI is a Government of India enterprise. There is no direct agreement between AP DISCOMs and any other entities including those belonging to the Adani group. Therefore, the allegations made on the state government in the light of the indictment are incorrect," the YSRCP said.
The PPA with SECI was also approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, it said.
The previous Andhra Pradesh government entered into an arrangement to procure power from SECI to the tune of 7,000 MW at Rs 2.49 per kWh for 25 year period with 3,000 MW commencing in FY 2024-25, 3,000 MW commencing in FY 2025-26 and 1,000 MW commencing in FY 2026-27 with waiver of the ISTS ( Inter State Transmission System) charges, the party said in a statement.
The procurement of power at such a cheap rate would substantially benefit the state with a saving of Rs 3,700 crore per annum and as the agreement is for a period of 25 years and the total benefit to the state on account of this agreement would be immense, the statement added.