India’s Reputation at Stake, Why’s PM Silent: Rahul Gandhi on Fresh Allegations Against Adani

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again hit out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence, questioned market regulator SEBI’s role after fresh allegations were uncovered by an investigative report by OCCRP, Financial Times and The Guardian newspapers. He said ahead of the G20 meeting, “India’s reputation was at stake… and the PM needed to break his silence”. 

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai during the two-day Opposition alliance, INDIA’s, meeting, the Congress MP once again targeted the Adani group over the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report and questioned the role of Gautam Adani’s brother- Vinod Adani. He alleged that the market regulator had let off the conglomerate with "token fines" for "technical violations" , as pointed out in the report, and questioned the link between the then SEBI chief, who was now director in Adani-owned media channel NDTV.

The foreign media reports Rahul Gandhi cited are The Financial Times report ‘Adani Group: Hidden Investors and a Secret Paper Trail’  and The Guardian’s report titled, ‘Modi Linked Adani Family Secretly Invested in its Own Shares’. 

"The current flavour is G20, and it is about India's position in the world. What is very important for a country like India is that there is a level playing field and transparency in our economic environment and businesses that operate here. Today morning, two global financial newspapers have raised a very important question. These are not any random newspapers. These newspapers affect investment in India and the perception of India in the rest of the world...", he said. 

The Congress, who has been alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a close bond with Gautam Adani, asked, "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, 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. 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.” 

It may be noted that after Modi took over as Prime Minister, the Adani Group has grown manifold with footprints in key sectors, such as ports, airports, defence, cement, energy, real estate, edible oils, media among others. 

Gandhi said it was imperative that the Prime Minister of India “clears his name and categorically explains what is going on.”

 “At the very least, a JPC should be allowed, and a thorough investigation should take place. I don't understand why the Prime Minister is not forcing an investigation. Why is he quiet? Why doesn't he say that he is going to make sure that this issue is investigated and the people who are responsible are put behind bars..This is raising a serious question on the Indian Prime Minister,” he added. 

He also questioned why Central agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were not investigating the matter. 

The OCCRP Report

The OCCRP has made fresh allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani Group. OCCRP’s report, published earlier today (August 31), claims that exclusive documents obtained by it show that “in at least two cases … investors turn out to have widely reported ties to the group’s majority shareholders, the Adani family”, and helped manipulate Adani companies’ stock prices.

The OCCRP report named two individual investors who made the investments it investigated for its article. The two men, Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Chang Chung-Ling, who OCCRP claimed have longtime business ties to the Adani family and have also served as directors and shareholders in group companies and firms associated with Gautam Adani's elder brother, Vinod Adani, "spent years buying and selling Adani stock through offshore structures that obscured their involvement - and made considerable profits in the process." The documents "show that the management company in charge of their investments paid a Vinod Adani company to advise them in their investment," it alleged.