Congress Fishing For Political Gains With Adani Indictment, Says Mahesh Jethmalani

Mahesh Jethmalani, senior lawyer and former Rajya Sabha member, on Wednesday rejected allegations of bribery against the Adani Group, stating there was no evidence and that this was a ploy by the Congress party.

Jethmalani described the accusations as baseless and politically motivated.

Jethmalani criticised the Congress for its response to the matter. “The adjournment motion and all the noise around this, which was made by the Congress party, is all misconceived," he said.

Jethmalani accused the Congress of misinterpreting the US indictment for political gain. “Congress is blindly relying on an indictment on an Indian conglomerate, which has done extremely useful business undertakings for the country abroad. This is not in India’s interest.”

He also questioned the timing of the indictment, suggesting it was politically motivated. “Congress is reading too much into the indictment and it is purely for political purposes, and they have been aided as is revealed by the timing of this indictment,” Jethmalani said.

There was a conspiracy to bribe, but no violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in India, he said, adding that neither Adani, nor Adani Green, the bondholder, have been cited as giving any bribe in India.

Federal prosecutors in the US recently alleged that Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and his aides conspired to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials, to secure solar energy contracts. However, Jethmalani noted that the indictment contained no evidence proving that such a conspiracy was carried out.

“The case here is that there was an intention, a conspiracy, a scheme to bribe Indian officials, but there is no evidence that it was carried out,” he said. “There is nothing to investigate in India.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the Adani Group clarified that neither Gautam Adani nor his associates were charged under the FCPA. The group said the indictment did not mention them in connection with any bribes.

The US indictment alleged a scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure solar energy contracts, but offered no conclusive evidence, according to Jethmalani. “There is nothing in the indictment—no proof of conspiracy, no evidence that Indian officials were bribed to get these solar energy contracts,” he said.

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