NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said businessman Gautam Adani should be arrested after his indictment in the US and accused the government of protecting him.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said "when hundreds of people are arrested on "tiny" charges in the country, why is Adani not in jail?"
The reiteration by Gandhi comes hours after the Adani Group said the billionaire and his nephew Sagar Adani have not been charged with any violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment filed by US authorities in a court in a bribery case. The duo has been charged with securities fraud that involves levy of monetary penalties.
"You think the Adanis are going to accept the charges. Which world are you living in? Obviously, he is going to deny the charges," Gandhi said when asked about the denial of charges by the Adani Group.
"The point is he has to be arrested. As we have said, hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores. He should be in jail... The government is protecting him," the former Congress chief said.
Gandhi was the first to demand the arrest of Adani after charges of alleged bribery were made out by the US against the businessman.
Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and another key executive, Vneet Jaain, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with being part of an alleged scheme to pay USD 265 million in bribes to Indian officials to win contracts for supply of solar electricity that would yield USD 2 billion profit over a 20-year period.
Earlier today, Adani's lawyer Mukul Rohtagi said there are no specific charges against the businessman or his associates and the accusations of bribery are very general and no specifics on who gave the bribe to whom are not specified.
