Adani denies bribery charges by US court, Rahul says 'you expect him to accept?'

Fresh controversy erupted on Wednesday on billionaire Gautam Adani’s indictment in the US court for alleged bribery with the industrialist denying all corruption allegations.

The Congress hit back asking whether Adani was expected to accept the accusations.

“Do you expect Adani to accept the charges,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said outside Parliament just hours after Adani Green in a fresh listing at the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange denied all bribery allegations.

Referring to reports alluding to the US court indictment of Adani over bribery, Adani Green said at BSE on Wednesday: “The reports which state that certain of our directors namely Mr. Gautam Adani, Mr. Sagar Adani and Mr. Vneet Jaain have been charged with violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) in the indictment are incorrect. Mr. Gautam Adani, Mr. Sagar Adani and Mr. Vneet Jaain have not been charged with any violation of the FCPA in the counts set forth in the indictment of the US DOJ or civil complaint of the US SEC. These directors have been charged on three counts in the criminal indictment namely (i) alleged securities fraud conspiracy, (ii) alleged wire fraud conspiracy, and (iii) alleged securities fraud.”

Adani Green made the listing in relation to the criminal indictment in a US court and in relation to the civil complaint in terms of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.

Adani renewables made the intimation to BSE and National Stock Exchange under regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015 (SEBI Listing Regulations).

Adani's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi also held a press conference defending his client and said the alleged bribery charges were vague, general and “not specific.”

“The US court indictment does not say who paid money to whom, how much, in what manner. It is a general statement which lacks specifics. So there are no charges. Nor are there any charges of obstruction of justice because nothing has been stated. A general accusation is not a charge,” Rohatgi said.

In Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, when asked about Adani's denials, said “You think the Adanis are going to accept the charges? Which world are you living in? Obviously, he is going to deny the charges. The point is he has to be arrested. As we have said, hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman has been indicted in the United States for thousands of crores. He should be in jail... The government is protecting him.”

Rahul has demanded the arrest of Adani after a US court indicted the businessman for alleged bribery which Adani denies.