Cong demands JPC to probe fresh Hindenburg allegations

The Congress on Monday intensified its attack on the Adani-Hindenburg row, demanding that the market regulator SEBI’s Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch should resign and a Joint Parliamentary Committee should be constituted to investigate the mega scam.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the illusion that the SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch “had separated their finances” has been shattered by the revelation that after joining SEBI, she transacted in the fund from her personal email account on February 25, 2018”.

Ironically, these funds are part of the same vehicles (Global Opportunities Fund and Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund) that Vinod Adani’s close associate Chang Chung-Ling, and Nasser Ali Shahban Ahli reportedly used to bypass Rule 19A, the very violation that SEBI is currently investigating, Ramesh said in a statement.

• Also read: SEBI chief Madhabi Puri, husband call Hindenburg allegations ‘baseless and insinuations’

He also said that “while 360 ONE, the fund manger, claimed that the IPE Plus 1 Fund, which have been referred to in the Hindenburg report, made no investments in the Adani Group, it remains silent on whether Vinod Adani, Chang or Ahli were investors in that fund alongside the Buchs”.

It also fails to clarify the connections between the Global Opportunities Fund, the Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund, and the IPE Plus I Fund.

The fresh volley of attack comes after Madhabi and her husband Bhaval refuted charges made against them by American short-seller Hindenburg Research, describing them as “baseless” and “insinuations aimed at character assassination”.

Investment in the fund referred to in the Hindenburg report (IPE Plus Fund 1) was made in 2015 which was around two years before Madhabi joined the SEBI and the couple were private citizens living in Singapore at that point of time, they said.

• Also read: Industry veterans back SEBI chairperson amid calls for JPC probe

‘Slow pace of probe’

Despite Adani Group’s claims of receiving a “clean chit”, the SEBI has reportedly issued show-cause notices to several Adani companies concerning these allegations. However, the “slow pace of these investigations, especially compared to the swift “justice” that the Prime Minister’s investigative agencies usually deliver to opposition leaders, remains inexplicable,” he said in the statement.

The Congress leader also wondered, did the SEBI Chairperson recuse herself from the Adani investigations. “Do these conflicts of interest explain the prolonged investigation, a delay that has benefited both Adani and the Prime Minister while damaging SEBI’s reputation? How can a match proceed if the umpire herself is compromised?” Ramesh alleged as the battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition continued.

The path forward, said Ramesh, is to immediately convene a JPC to investigate the full extent of the “Modani Megascam” involving the “self-annointed non-biological PM and a perfectly biological businessman”.

According to the Congress leader, the “Adani Megascam extends beyond the 24 matters under SEBI’s investigation”. “It extends to the sources of the ₹20,000 crore benami funds invested in the Adani Group, the over-invoicing of thousands of crores in coal and power equipment, and the laundering of those proceeds,” he alleged.

Additionally, it involves the granting of monopolies to the Adani Group in critical infrastructure sectors and the manipulation of Indian foreign policy to secure Adani assets in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which are proving to be highly controversial, Ramesh claimed.