New Delhi, April 18: A day after his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's adviser was cancelled, Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Wednesday said he had returned Rs 2.50 he received as "salary" for 75 days he was on the post in 2016.
The Delhi government's General Administration Department (GAD), citing a Home Ministry letter dated April 10, on Tuesday cancelled the appointment of nine advisers and consultants in various departments, including that of Chadha as Adviser (finance).
In a letter to the Ministry, Chadha said that he was appointed to the post from January 15 to March 31 in 2016 to assist Sisodia in the preparation of the 2016-17 Budget.
"...I accept my retrospective sacking from the post I held for 75 days two years ago," he said in the letter, tagging along a draft for Rs 2.50.
He criticised Delhi bureaucrats, claiming that they were working "hand in glove" with the Bharatiya Janata Party by choice or under duress and were "uncooperative" over the Delhi government's reforms, and thus the role of advisers was "ever more important".
The nine advisers whose appointments were cancelled are Amardeep Tiwari (Media adviser to the Law Minister), Arunoday Prakash (Media Adviser to Deputy CM), Atishi Marlena (Media Adviser to Deputy CM), Dinkar Adib (OSD to Minister Satyender Jain), Ram Kumar Jha (Adviser, logistics, to Sisodia), Samir Malhotra (consultant, Satyender Jain), Prashant Saxena and Rajat Tiwari (Aide de Camps to Power Minister).
"I too was one of these young foolhardy individuals who thought they brought value to the table...," Chadha wrote in the letter.
Taking a dig at BJP leaders Sambit Patra and Shazia Ilmi over their appointment as Directors in the Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd and Engineers India Ltd respectively, the AAP leader derisively questioned if he would have been better placed at a "plump position" in public sector undertaking with "considerable pecuniary benefits".
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US SEC summons Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar in bribery case
New York (PTI): Adani group founder and chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar have been summoned to explain their stand on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegation of paying USD 265 million (Rs 2,200 crore) in bribes to secure lucrative solar power contracts.
Summons have been sent to Adani's Shantivan Farm residence in Ahmedabad and his nephew Sagar's Bodakdev residence in the same city for a reply to SEC within 21 days.
"Within 21 days after service of this summons on you (not counting the day you received it)...you must serve on the plaintiff (SEC) an answer to the attached complaint or a motion under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure," said a November 21 notice sent through the New York Eastern District Court.
"If you fail to respond, judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. You also must file your answer or motion with the court," it added.
Gautam Adani, 62, and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, allegedly agreed to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years, according to an indictment unsealed in a New York court on Wednesday.
Separate from the indictment brought by the US Department of Justice, the US SEC has also charged the two and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global, for "conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme".
The ports-to-energy conglomerate has denied the allegations and said it will seek all possible legal resources.
"The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation fully compliant with all laws."
An indictment in the US is basically a formal written allegation originating with a prosecutor and issued by a grand jury against a party charged with a crime. A person indicted is given formal notice to reply.
That person or persons can then hire a defence lawyer to defend.
Prosecutors said the investigation started in 2022 and found the inquiry obstructed.
They also allege that the Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies, as well as reports of the bribery probe.
"As alleged, the defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars and... lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from U.S. and international investors," US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement announcing the charges on Wednesday.
"My office is committed to rooting out corruption in the international marketplace and protecting investors from those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the integrity of our financial markets."
