Supreme Court of India Must Take Suo Motu Cognizance of #Adani Bribery Indictments in US
New Delhi, 21 November 2024
The indictment of the Adani group by the US criminal justice system over bribing of Indian officials to secure overpriced solar power contracts and violation of American laws to raise funds from the US investment market exposes not just the Adani group for its criminal wrongdoings but also the Indian regulatory system and the Modi government for their complicity in protecting and promoting the Adani group.
Only a year ago while the whole world was shaken up by the Hindenburg disclosures about the Adani group’s monumental corporate fraud, the Modi government did everything possible to shield the Adani group and the Supreme Court too did little to hold the Modi government and the SEBI to account. The current indictments are not just about corporate fraud but serious acts of corruption like bribery and the Modi government must not be allowed to ignore this mega corruption that has taken place within India simply because the indictments have happened under a foreign justice system.
If the Modi government does not order an immediate probe, the Supreme Court of India must take suo motu cognizance of these serious indictments which have hugely adverse implications for India’s international image and the interests of India’s domestic economy and consumers and order a court-monitored CBI investigation into the alleged 2,029 crore rupees (265 million USD) bribery scam. The SEBI chief must also be removed immediately to overhaul India’s investment regulatory system.
- Dipankar Bhattacharya,
General Secretary, CPI(ML)
New Delhi, 21 November 2024
The indictment of the Adani group by the US criminal justice system over bribing of Indian officials to secure overpriced solar power contracts and violation of American laws to raise funds from the US investment market exposes not just the Adani group for its criminal wrongdoings but also the Indian regulatory system and the Modi government for their complicity in protecting and promoting the Adani group.
Only a year ago while the whole world was shaken up by the Hindenburg disclosures about the Adani group’s monumental corporate fraud, the Modi government did everything possible to shield the Adani group and the Supreme Court too did little to hold the Modi government and the SEBI to account. The current indictments are not just about corporate fraud but serious acts of corruption like bribery and the Modi government must not be allowed to ignore this mega corruption that has taken place within India simply because the indictments have happened under a foreign justice system.
If the Modi government does not order an immediate probe, the Supreme Court of India must take suo motu cognizance of these serious indictments which have hugely adverse implications for India’s international image and the interests of India’s domestic economy and consumers and order a court-monitored CBI investigation into the alleged 2,029 crore rupees (265 million USD) bribery scam. The SEBI chief must also be removed immediately to overhaul India’s investment regulatory system.
- Dipankar Bhattacharya,
General Secretary, CPI(ML)