The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India has not received any request from the US on the legal matter related to the Adani Group and the US Department of Justice. The Foreign Ministry has given this information in its weekly briefing on Friday (November 29). Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ‘We consider it a legal matter involving private companies, individuals and the US Department of Justice. Obviously, there are established procedures and legal avenues in such cases, which we believe will be followed. The Indian government was not informed about this issue in advance. We have not had any conversation with the US government on this matter Jaiswal said, ‘We have not had any conversation with the US government on this matter. At this time the Government of India is not a part of this matter in any way. He said that any request made for the service of summons or arrest warrant of a foreign government is part of mutual legal assistance, but such requests are examined on the basis of merits. Norway-diplomat calls allegations against Adani as US encroachment A day earlier, Norwegian diplomat and formal executive director of the UN Environment Program, Eric Solheim, criticized the recent US government report, which accused 8 people, including Gautam Adani, of paying bribes and fraud worth billions of rupees. Calling it ‘American encroachment’, he talked about the global media coverage of the report and asked – when will the American encroachment stop? Solheim said that there is no evidence of actual bribe payment or involvement of Adani Group leaders in the allegations. Nor is there any evidence that Adani officials bribed Indian government officials. The allegation is based only on the claim that bribes were promised or discussed. This American encroachment can have serious consequences on people’s lives. It forces to spend time and resources in court Eric Solheim wrote on social media platform X that it forces Adani Group to spend time and resources in court instead of building solar and wind plants. The actions taken by US officials hinder India’s green energy transition and hamper one of the country’s biggest economic strengths. Now is the time to stop American encroachment. This case was registered in the Federal Court of New York on 24 October 2024. In fact, on November 21, the United States Attorney’s Office had said that Adani had given or was planning to give a bribe of $ 265 million (about Rs 2200 crore) to Indian officials to get a contract related to solar energy in India. This entire matter is related to Adani Group company Adani Green Energy Limited and another firm. This case was registered in the Federal Court of New York on 24 October 2024. In its hearing on Wednesday, November 20, Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, Vineet S Jain, Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanis, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal have been made accused. According to a Reuters report, an arrest warrant has also been issued against Gautam Adani and Sagar. Sagar is an officer of Adani Green Energy Limited. Understand what is the whole case of manipulation and bribery… According to the filing of the US Department of Justice, Solar Energy Corporation of India i.e. SECI had issued a contract to supply 12 gigawatts of energy in the country. SECI is the renewable energy company of the Government of India, which aims to increase the use of solar energy in the country. Between December 2019 and July 2020, Adani Green Energy Limited i.e. AGEL and a foreign firm won the contract. They were issued a Letter of Award (LOA). Here a problem arose. SECI was not getting customers for the electricity purchased from AGEL and the foreign firm. In such a situation, it could not buy electricity from AGEL and the foreign firm. This would have caused losses to Adani’s company and the foreign firm. According to the charge sheet, Gautam Adani, along with 7 people including his nephew Sagar Adani, Vineet Jain, conspired to bribe the officials. So that the state governments can enter into a power sale agreement with SECI and their solar power agreements can find a buyer. According to the chargesheet, ‘Gautam Adani met a senior official of Andhra Pradesh several times between 7 August 2021 and 20 November 2021. So that a solar power agreement could be signed between Andhra Pradesh Electricity Distribution Company (APEPDCL) and SECI.’ After this, an agreement was made between APEPDCL and SECI. AGEL and the foreign firm got the contract. After this, the State Electricity Distribution Boards of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir signed contracts for the purchase of electricity. Two official documents have been issued in this entire case… 1. Indictment filed by US prosecutors in the Clerk’s Office of the Eastern District Court of New York. There is no mention of an arrest warrant in this. 2. Press release issued from the US Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York. There is no mention of arrest warrant against Gautam Adani in this as well. At the same time, American news agency Reuters wrote in a report dated November 21, ‘According to court records, a judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. Prosecutors have prepared to hand over these warrants to foreign law enforcement. Adani Group has called all the allegations baseless. Adani Group has called all the allegations baseless. Issuing a statement on November 21, the group had said- ‘The allegations leveled by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green Energy Limited are baseless. We deny them. The US Justice Department itself said that these are just allegations right now. The accused are considered innocent until proven guilty. Sagar Adani manages the energy business. Gautam Adani’s nephew, Sagar has an economics degree from Brown University US. Sagar joined the Adani Group in 2015. Sagar manages the group’s energy business and finance. He focuses on the renewable energy business and plans to make the company the world’s largest renewable energy producer by 2030. Adani Green Energy has a clean energy portfolio of over 20 GW Adani Green Energy Limited has a clean energy portfolio of over 20 GW, which includes one of the world’s largest solar power plants in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The Adani Group aims to become the country’s largest company in this sector by 2030. The company’s market cap is Rs 1.85 lakh crore.
