By Sakshi Dayal and Shilpa Jamkhandikar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian opposition parties on Thursday demanded an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the Adani Group and said they would raise the issue in parliament after its president, Gautam Adani, was charged in the United States for an alleged bribery scheme.
Billionaire Adani was indicted by US prosecutors for his alleged role in a $265 million fraud and bribery scheme and arrest warrants were issued for him and his nephew, plunging his conglomerate into deep crisis for the second time in two years. .
The Adani Group rejected the allegations as baseless and said it was in full compliance with all laws.
Adani has been the target of Indian opposition parties who say he and his conglomerate have been protected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, accusations both deny.
Modi’s opponents say he has long-standing ties with Adani, dating back nearly two decades, when Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, to which Adani also belongs.
They accuse the government of favoring the group in trade deals, accusations the government has rejected as “wild accusations.”
“We are raising this issue, it is my responsibility to raise it as opposition leader,” Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, told reporters when asked if he would raise it in parliament next week.
Gandhi has led the opposition’s attack on Modi over what he says are Modi’s ties to Adani since American short seller Hindenburg Research published a report last year accusing the Adani group of misusing offshore tax havens, which which the company has denied.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for a thorough parliamentary inquiry into “all aspects of the functioning of the Adani Group”.
Sanjay Singh, a lawmaker from the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, said the allegation was a serious matter.
“All matters pending against Adani should be investigated by an investigation agency and monitored by the Supreme Court,” Singh said.
There was no immediate response to the allegation from the Indian government.
However, Amit Malviya, leader of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and head of its IT cell, said Congress should not get “unnecessarily excited.”
“The document you cite says: ‘The charges in the indictment are accusations and the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty,'” he said in response to a post by Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh, requesting a parliamentary investigation.
“The timing of the report, just before the parliament session and Donald Trump’s impending presidency, raises several questions,” he said, without elaborating.