He said that the reports in the media were misleading and were not presenting a clear picture of the allegations.
Published Nov 27, 2024 | 11:30 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 27, 2024 | 1:25 PM
Mukul Rohatgi speaking to the media.
Former Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi on Wednesday, 27 November, said neither Gautam Adani nor his nephew Sagar Adani were named in charges related to bribery or obstruction of justice in the US indictment regarding an alleged bribe scheme.
Rohatgi said they have not been charged with violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
“Count 1 and Count 5 of the US indictment, which relates to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and obstruction of justice, respectively, do not name Gautam Adani or his nephew [Sagar Adani]. Some other individuals, including a foreign party, have been named. Whether they are related to Adani or not, they will respond. But I wanted to clear the air that Adanis have not been named in the counts related to the violation of FCPA and obstruction of justice,” he said.
He said he decided to speak to reporters after finding that the reports in the media were misleading and were not presenting a clear picture of the allegations.
Rohtagi said the chargesheet was unclear and it did not have any details of the allegations.
“When you look at a chargesheet, it must be specific to say that so and so has done such and such act, so and so has bribed certain individuals. But I do not find a single name or detail in the chargesheet as to who has been bribed, in what manner, and which department he belongs. This chargesheet is completely silent. I don’t know how one can respond to this kind of chargesheet. But I am sure the Adanis will take legal opinion from US lawyers,” he said.
Rohtagi said that these were his personal views and was not a spokesperson of the Adani Group adding that he had represented them in some cases in the past.
“The Adanis and others will respond to this chargesheet in the manner that they desire, they will also respond to stock exchanges. These are my personal views after taking a look at this chargesheet,” he said.
A federal court in Brooklyn in the US on 21 November, indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and seven others on charges of conspiring to commit financial fraud. They were involved in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions based on false and misleading statements.
Lisa H Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said the indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions.
“The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the US Issuer), and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, former employees of a Canadian institutional investor, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a bribery scheme also perpetrated by Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain, involving one of the world’s largest solar energy projects,” the release by the US court said.
It alleged that Adani bribed the Indian government to finance lucrative contracts designed to benefit their businesses.
Meanwhile, the Adani Group denied all allegations raised by the US court.
