New Delhi: The Opposition’s demand for a debate on the latest allegations against the Adani Group and Sambhal violence rocked both Houses of Parliament this week, forcing adjournments and washing out the third day of the winter session.
The Congress and the BJP engaged in a slugfest after former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani forwarded legal arguments outside Parliament to argue that neither Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani nor his nephew Sagar were named in charges related to bribery or obstruction of justice under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
The Opposition, however, rejected the claims and demanded a joint parliamentary committee investigation into “the entire Modani scam” and alleged it had “global ramifications”. Last week, a New York court indicted Gautam Adani and his nephew for allegedly promising Rs 2,029 crore of bribes to state government officials in India for securing solar power contracts between 2020-2024.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called on the ED, CBI, and SEBI to investigate the Adani Group's dealings rather than act as "tools of a corrupt political-business nexus". "This is the moment of reckoning for our institutions and the Indians who occupy those offices. History will neither forgive nor forget this moment," he said.
In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar rejected 18 notices submitted by Opposition MPs demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into Adani bribery charges in the US, Sambhal violence, and an increase in incidents of crime in Delhi. Subsequently, Opposition MPs started shouting slogans and the Upper House was adjourned for the day.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan took oath as Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, Notably, Priyanka Gandhi became the third member of the Gandhi family to enter Parliament.
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