Parliament was adjourned for another day on February 3 even as the Opposition demanded the constitution of either a Supreme Court-monitored committee or a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe a report of Hindenburg Research, a short-selling firm, on the Adani Group.
The government rejected the demand for a JPC or any other probe. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that LIC was in profit despite the slump in the Adani Group’s shares. She also said that the exposure of both LIC and SBI was within limits and that banking systems were at comfortable levels.
Earlier in the day, members from 16 parties attended a meeting in the Parliament chambers of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. In Parliament, several Opposition MPs gave suspension of business notices, demanding a discussion on the allegations. Congress MPs Mallikarjun Kharge, Syed Naseer Hussain, Amee Yagnik, Pramod Tiwari, and Neeraj Dangi, sought a discussion on the “issue of frauds in investment by LIC, SBI, public sector banks and other financial institutions losing market value, endangering the hard-earned savings of crores of Indians”.
A similar notice was issued by Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi. She described the issue as a matter of “urgent public importance”. Others who gave notices for discussion on the issue included Tiruchi Siva of the DMK, K. Keshava Rao of the BRS and Elamaram Kareem from the CPI (M).
Hindenburg Research had published a 129-page report accusing the Adani Group of “perpetrating the biggest con in corporate history”. The report alleged that the Adani Group had overstated its valuations by over 85 per cent and “engaged in brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud”.
LIC has reportedly invested Rs.80,000 crore in the Adani Group. The Adani Group responded by saying it was a calculated attack on India.
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