Opposition MPs demand summoning of SEBI chief on Adani issue in finance panel meet

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], March 15 : The opposition MPs on Wednesday demanded that the Standing Committee for Finance summon SEBI Chief and other senior officials of RBI on the Hindenburg report and its findings with regard to industrialist Gautam Adani.
Among the MPs who put forth their demand include former Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP from Congress Manish Tewari along with his party colleagues, Gaurav Gogoi and Pramod Tiwari, Pinaki Misra and Amar Patnaik from BJD, Saugata Roy of TMC.
Senior MPs of the BJP in the panel including Chairman, Jayant Sinha along with former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sushil Modi and SS Ahluwalia vehemently opposed the demand.
Sources confirmed that the ruling party MPs said that this matter was sub-judice and therefore the panel cannot discuss this matter.
The opposition MPs demanded that it was important to summon regulatory authorities like SEBI and RBI concerning the issue which is related to safeguarding the interest of the nation & whether or not all measures were taken with regards to the same. The opposition MPs argued that the panel can summon the authorities that are responsible since this is an issue of regulatory matters and is well under the purview of the Finance Committee.
This demand by the opposition MPs comes at a time when the Parliament has been in a logjam state with the opposition parties continuing to demand that the government forms a JPC on the Adani issue.
It is learnt that the panel Chairman has asked the MPs to submit the request in writing.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had launched a strong attack on the government in the wake of the Hindenburg-Adani row linking the rise of the Adani group to that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that "rules were changed" in some sectors to favour the businessman.
Rahul Gandhi, who was the first opposition leader to speak during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, said the relationship with Gautam Adani began many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister and added that "real magic" started after 2014 and the businessman rose from 609th to second spot globally in the rich list.
"Relationships begin many years ago when Narendra Modi was Gujarat's Chief Minister...one man stood shoulder to shoulder with PM Modi, he was loyal to the PM and helped Mr Modi construct the idea of a 'Resurgent Gujarat'. The real magic began when PM Modi reached the national capital in 2014," Rahul Gandhi said addressing the Lok Sabha.