Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday gave an ultimatum to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government to arrest Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani today itself. The LoP also sought a probe against Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, who he called Adani's "protector".
"Adani should be arrested immediately and his 'protector' Madhabi Puri Buch should be probed," Gandhi said at the press conference. He added that it is very clear that Adani has broken not only the Indian law but also the American law.
The LoP claimed that Adani has allegedly done a scam to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore and probably multiple others but he is running scot-free in the country.
Gandhi further accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting Adani. He also accused the industrialist of acquiring India's assets through corruption while demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).
"But we know that he won't be arrested because the PM of India backs Adani, he is his protector." Taking shots at the PM's Ek Hain to Safe Hain slogan, the Gandhi scion said: "Modi says Ek Hain toh Safe hain. Modi and Adani are safe in India if they are one."
His press conference came hours after the US indictment against the industrialist came out on Thursday morning. In this indictment, Adani and other defendants were accused of promising bribes worth around $250 million to Indian government officials in order to secure energy contracts.
Adani and the other defendants also allegedly hid these actions when raising funds from American investors.The indictment outlined three meetings between Gautam Adani and 'Foreign Official #1', a high-ranking official in the Andhra Pradesh government.
These meetings took place on August 7, September 12, and November 20, 2021, respectively. In these interactions, the Andhra Pradesh state electricity companies were pushed to sign power supply agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
On December 1, 2021, Andhra Pradesh DISCOMs finalised a power supply agreement with SECI for 2.3 gigawatts of solar power. Prosecutors claim that around $228 million of the total bribes were earmarked for Andhra Pradesh to facilitate these agreements.
At the time, Jagan Mohan Reddy was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Other states named in the indictment are Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir.
Barring J&K, other three states were under non-BJP rule. Jammu & Kashmir was under central rule at the time. While Chhattisgarh was ruled by the Congress, Odisha was governed by Naveen Patnaik. Tamil Nadu currently has a DMK government led by MK Stalin.