'Why is Centre dragging its feet to order judicial probe?' Ex-power secretary on US SEC summons to Gautam Adani

Hyderabad: Even as reports emerged that India's law ministry refused to serve US SEC summons to billionaire Gautam Adani on technical grounds in the alleged bribery case, former Union power secretary and retired IAS officer EAS Sarma questioned why the government is dragging its feet on a comprehensive judicial inquiry into the alleged multiple undue favours showered on the Adani Group.

In a letter to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on Monday, he asked if this points to connivance. Sarma also noted that India's capital market regulator SEBI could have contacted its US counterpart, the SEC, to obtain factual evidence and launch a domestic investigation, but it has not. Similarly, the CBI could have reached out to the FBI for details and initiated its own probe, yet it hasn't. "Is some external agency within the NDA government stubbornly blocking such investigations?" he asked.

“Whatever be the reasons that the Law Ministry has cited for not serving US summons on the Adanis and whatever be the status of the US Court proceedings, are not the highest in the NDA government concerned about the allegations on the basis of which the US SEC had approached the US court and the latter issued an indictment? Are not the powers that be in the NDA government worried about corrupt practices alleged to have been committed on Indian soil, resulting in a huge cost burden imposed on millions of electricity consumers in AP?,” Sarma told in the letter.

Sarma said that in his view, allegations by US SEC are far too serious in content to be blindly ignored, in the midst of the sordid saga and confusion of the government refusing to serve the US legal summons on senior promoters of the Adani Group.

“The US SEC initiated the investigation on the ground that the Adani-Azure combine had raised funds from US investors allegedly on the basis of false disclosures made to them, by invoking the US law on prevention of corrupt practices, which required such an investigation. Leave alone the US investors and leave alone the US court proceedings. We have our own investors to worry about, who have put in their hard earned savings in the activities of the Adani companies. Are those at the highest at the Centre not concerned about them?,” he said.

He pointed out that if the allegations are true that private companies have attempted to bribe Indian politicians and officers to force DISCOMs to buy expensive solar electricity, would it not have hurt the interests of millions of domestic electricity consumers?

“There is a US company, Azure allegedly involved in this matter. Should not our regulators investigate their role aswell and proceed against them? What is the role played in this alleged scam by the officers of electricity regulators at the Centre and the officers of SECI? We have our own law, namely, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, under which those that are involved in corrupt practices are punishable. Are not those in power interested in investigating this huge corruption case, and if the allegations are found to be true, for the sake of discouraging corruption, are they not interested in prosecuting both bribe givers and bribe takers under that Act, in addition to other relevant laws?,” he said.