Rahul Gandhi seeks JPC probe into fresh report on Adani; says India's reputation at stake
Mumbai, Aug 31: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into reports that Adani family associates secretly invested "hundreds of millions" in the company through opaque investment funds based in Mauritius.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Gandhi referred to news articles by some prominent foreign newspapers on Adani Group.
"These are not random newspapers. These newspapers affect investment in India and the perception of India in the rest of the world. They are stating that over a billion dollars of money went from India, was circulated in different places and then came back to India," he said.
"The first question arises: whose money is this? Is it Adani's or someone else's? The mastermind behind this is a gentleman called Vinod Adani who is the brother of Gautam Adani. There are two other people who are involved in this round-tripping of money. One is a gentleman called Nasir Ali Shaban Ahli and another is a Chinese gentleman called Chang Chung Ling," he said.
"So, the second question arises - why are these two foreign nationals being allowed to play with the valuation of one of the companies that controls almost all of Indian infrastructure," Gandhi said.
"The gentleman who conducted SEBI investigation and gave a clean chit to Adani Group is now a director on a media company owned by the same group," Gandhi said.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group was on Thursday hit by fresh allegations that it used family associates to secretly invest hundreds of millions of dollars through "opaque" Mauritius-based investment funds to fuel the spectacular rise in group stocks from 2013 to 2018.
The conglomerate vehemently denied the charge.
An article by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) alleged that millions of dollars were invested in some publicly traded stocks of Adani Group through opaque' Mauritius funds that "obscured" involvement of alleged business partners of the Adani family.
Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why the latter had not forced an investigation. "Why is PM Modi silent," he added.
"This is raising very serious questions on the PM just before G20 leaders come here. It is important that this issue is made clear before they (G20 leaders) arrive," Gandhi added.
"India's reputation is at stake ahead of the G20 meet in the country. PM Modi should take action and get the Adani issue investigated," he said.
दुनिया के दो बड़े अखबारों ने प्रधानमंत्री और अडानी के रिश्ते पर सवाल उठाए हैं - ये हिंदुस्तान की इज्ज़त पर दाग है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 31, 2023
प्रधानमंत्री जी, ये रिश्ता क्या कहलाता है?
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
