Winter session of Parliament today: Congress-led Oppn to corner Modi govt over Adani bribery scandal

The Winter session of the Parliament is all set to begin today, with the Congress-led Opposition taking up the bribery allegations against the ports-to-power conglomerate Adani Group. 

Ahead of the session, the opposition raised the demand to take up the bribery allegations against the Adani Group during an all-party meeting held by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. In this meeting, the BJP appealed to all parties to cooperate in ensuring the smooth functioning of the Parliament. 

On the opposition's demand of raking up the Adani issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the business advisory committees of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will decide on the agenda of the session. 

Last week, US prosecutors indicted Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and 7 others for their alleged involvement in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure big-ticket power supply contracts.

As per the indictment, the bribes were allegedly paid between 2020 and 2024.  The alleged bribes were part of a plan to ensure profits worth $2 billion from the projects which involved the Adani Group and US-based Azure Power.

Arrest warrants have been issued in the US for Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement. 

The Adani Group, however, has denied the charges as 'baseless' and maintained it operates with the highest standards of integrity and compliance. The conglomerate also said that it intends to explore all possible legal remedies to address the accusations. 

"As stated by the US Department of Justice itself, "the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty." All possible legal recourse will be sought," the Adani Group spokesperson said.

After the indictment against Adani came out, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi held a press conference, seeking the industrialist's arrest and a probe against the Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. 

In this presser, the LoP alleged that Adani has done a scam to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore and probably multiple others but he is running scot-free in India. 

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting Adani, who acquired India's assets through corruption. The Gandhi scion also demanded that a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) be set up against Adani. 

The winter session of the Parliament beginning on Monday will last December 20.