NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be ‘extraordinarily generous’ to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asserted that the party’s fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue.
Congress general secretary in-charge communication Jairam Ramesh said, “Truth dies a thousand deaths when we hear Satyameva Jayate from those who have gamed, manipulated and subverted the system this past decade”.
It is noteworthy that SEBI has ‘failed’ to complete its investigation into the violation of securities laws and stock manipulation by the Adani Group and its associates ten months after the Supreme Court’s expert committee asked it to do so, he said. “It is unclear what will change in the next three months other than the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections coming into effect,” he said.
The Congress leader also pointed out that the most recent revelations include the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project revealing the actual ownership of two of the 13 benami shell companies that SEBI has failed to identify despite years of “investigation”. Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli held 8-14% of benami holdings in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Power and Adani Transmission, he alleged.
This was via shell companies in Mauritius, UAE and British Virgin Islands in blatant violation of SEBI’s minimum shareholding laws, Ramesh claimed. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) said that rejecting petitions for an impartial probe is disappointing and unfortunate on several grounds.
Terming the court judgment ‘a disappointing verdict’, the party said that it is surprising that the court took such a denial at its face value without questioning why the SEBI has not acted on the complaints.
“The Supreme Court judgement in the Adani case, rejecting petitions for an impartial probe is disappointing and unfortunate on several grounds. A statutory body like the SEBI has not been fulfilling its mandate for expeditiously probing allegations against the Adani group. In 2014, the DRI had made a reference to SEBI on a direct charge against Adani. In 2021, Parliament had been informed that the SEBI had been probing allegations against Adani but in its affidavit to the Court, SEBI denied such a probe,” read the statement.
SEBI failed to complete investigation: Jairam
It is noteworthy that SEBI has ‘failed’ to complete its investigation into the violation of securities laws and stock manipulation by the Adani Group and its associates ten months after the Supreme Court’s expert committee asked it to do so, said Jairam Ramesh.