New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday dismissed remarks by lawyers Mahesh Jethmalani and Mukul Rohatgi on corruption allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani as an attempt to dilute the seriousness of the accusations and said “the Modani ecosystem » was trying to cause harm. control through denial.

Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh also said that this is the time of accountability for Indian institutions and the Indians who occupy these offices.

“Unsurprisingly, the Modani ecosystem dropped some big legal guns this morning. Now faced with serious actions in other countries whose systems it can neither intimidate nor erode, the Modani ecosystem is attempting damage control through denial,” Ramesh said in an article on X.

This ridiculous attempt cannot mitigate the seriousness of the accusations made by American agencies, he said.

“It is undeniable that the Department of Justice indictment clearly states that Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and others “devised a scheme to offer, authorize, pay and promise to pay bribes.” government officials induced the state’s power distribution companies to enter into PSAs with SECI (para 47),” Ramesh pointed out.

“It also states that they “offered and promised Indian government officials approximately 2,029 crore rupees (approximately $265 million) in bribes in exchange for Indian government officials, forcing the distribution companies to “state electricity to execute PSAs” (paragraph 49)”, Ramesh further emphasized. out.

Further, it alleges corruption at the highest levels, claiming that Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain “secretly influenced the SECI process of re-allotment of 2.3 GW PPAs to the Indian Energy Company’s subsidiary”, added Ramesh.

The Solar Enegy Corporation of India (SECI) is a public sector undertaking under the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, he pointed out.

Ramesh said the ED, CBI and SEBI should proactively carry out investigations in the face of these revelations.

It is up to them to fulfill their obligations to the nation, rather than acting as tools of a corrupt political-economic nexus, he said.

“This is the time for accountability for our institutions and for the Indians who occupy these offices. History will neither forgive nor forget this moment. As for us, we will continue to raise these issues in Parliament and among the people,” the Congress leader said.

Earlier, speaking to the media, former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said, “At the outset, I must tell you that these are my personal legal opinions. I have gone through this indictment, drawn up by the American court, which is approximately 54 pages long. My assessment is this, and it is clear that there are five accusations, or five counts. It is important to note that counts one and five are more important than the others, but neither in count one nor in count five are Adani or his nephew charged, it is as an act indictment, which accuses individuals of committing specific acts. “So the first count mentions the accusation against certain other persons, less the two Adanis, this includes some of their officers and a foreign person, that is, the conspiracy to violate the law on Foreign Corrupt Practices (FCPA), this is similar to Corruption Prevention. This is a law in India that was framed by the US Parliament,” he stressed.

Then there are two or three counts related to securities and bonds, in which Adanis is named, he said.

“The last charge, and a very important one, is obstruction of justice, the Adanis are not named, their officers are not named, but some other people are named, including a foreign party. The Adanis will respond to the indictment. I haven’t seen their responses, they will also respond to the stock exchanges,” he said.

“I would like to say that when you look at the indictment, you have to be specific to say that so and so committed such an act, bribed. It was alleged that Adanis bribed Indian officials in Indian entities related to the supply and purchase of electricity, but I cannot find any names or details in the indictment indicating who was bribed and in what way it is. I don’t know how one can respond to this kind of indictment,” Rohatgi said about the US indictment against Gautam Adani.

Senior lawyer and BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani also spoke to the media over the US charges against Adani and said that given the nature of the indictment, the fragmentary evidence and some very important circumstances, it seems to be a “hatchet job”.

“It is now clear that part of the Democratic deep state apparatus… There are two deep states in America: the Republican deep state and the Democratic deep state. The Democratic Deep State has, for some reason, become extremely hostile to the current government after 2023. As for the indictment itself, first of all, no offenses are alleged in the indictment. ‘accusation against the Adanis or Adani Green,’ he said.

Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar were not charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment filed by authorities before the New York court in the alleged corruption case.

They were charged with securities fraud leading to the imposition of monetary penalties.

Ports-Energy conglomerate founding chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar and another key executive were charged by the U.S. Justice Department with participating in an alleged scheme to pay $265 million in bribes. wine to Indian officials to win contracts. for the provision of solar electricity which would bring in $2 billion in benefits over a 20-year period.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Green Energy Ltd – which is at the center of the corruption allegations – said reports that the three men had been accused of FCPA violations were “incorrect”. PTI ASK DV DV

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