Congress slams ministry probe into accounts of Adani group's two Mumbai airports, calls it 'sham'

Jairam Ramesh. File Pic

The Congress on Saturday termed as an "eyewash" and "sham" the reported probe by the corporate affairs ministry into the accounts of Adani Enterprises' two airports in Mumbai and reiterated its demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue, reported news agency PTI.

The opposition party has been questioning the financial dealings of billionaire Gautam Adani's Group after US research firm Hindenburg alleged "irregularities" and charged it with stock price manipulation.

The Adani Group has denied all the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and claimed there had been no wrongdoing on its part.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which quoted Adani Enterprises as saying that the corporate affairs ministry was investigating the accounts of the group's two airports in the country's financial capital of Mumbai.

"As Adani group's skeletons tumble out of the closet on a daily basis, the government is desperately trying to save face by switching to a PR mode to show that it is taking action against PM Modi's favourite business group," Ramesh said in a post on X.

When will the government investigate how the Adani group was awarded six out of six airports over the objections of the NITI Aayog and the Department of Economic Affairs, he asked.

"When will it probe how the ED and CBI raided the previous owners of Mumbai airport when they were unwilling to sell to the Adani group, and how the case went into deep freeze after the PM's best friend took control of India's second busiest airport?" Ramesh said.

"This sham investigation will end up where previous Modi-era probes into the Adani group have gone ¿ nowhere!" he said.

Such eyewash fools no one, Ramesh said, adding that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee can reveal the truth behind the "Modani Mega Scam".

Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that fresh revelations in the Adani issue by a foreign publication indicate that "more than Rs 12,000 crore may have been siphoned out of the country in two years", reported news agency PTI.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a statement, dubbed it the "biggest scam" of modern India. He claimed that this was "not a metaphorical loot" but "literally theft" from the pockets of crores of Indians.

Jairam Ramesh also accused the ruling BJP government of "helping" the Adani group acquire assets and "the BJP is kept flush with electoral bond funds which allows it to buy MLAs at will and break opposition parties", reported PTI.

There was no immediate reaction available from the Adani group on the allegations.

"This is the biggest scam of modern India. It combines greed and heartlessness with a cold contempt for the people of India. It is based on the conviction that there is no scam that cannot be 'managed' and that there is no issue that cannot be diverted from. But the Shahenshah is mistaken. India will not be captured by Modani. The people of India will answer in 2024," Jairam Ramesh said in his statement.

(With inputs from PTI)