Mukul Rohatgi finds flaws in Adani indictment

November 27, 2024 12:52

Former Attorney General of India and Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday said that industrialist Gautam Adani, along with his nephew Sagar Adani, have not been named in key bribery or obstruction of justice charges in the indictment filed by United States prosecutors in a bribery case.

Earlier today, the Adani Group Energy Limited (AGEL) refuted bribery allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the Group's founder and Chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and MD CEO Adani Green Energy Vineet Jaain, in a filing with the stock exchanges.

In its filing, AGEL has cited media reports on the alleged bribery and corruption charges against Adani officials as "Incorrect"."I have gone through this indictment by the US court. My assessment is that there are five charges or five counts. It is important to note that counts one and five are more important than the others, but neither in Count 1 nor in Count 5 is Mr Adani or his nephew charged," Rohtgi said.

The senior counsel clarified that these were his personal legal views. "I am not a spokesman for the Adani Group. I am a lawyer and have been appearing for the Adani Group in several cases," he said.

"Count number 1 of the indictment is against certain other persons minus the two Adanis. It includes some of their officers and one foreign person...The first allegation is that there is a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act framed by the US Parliament. In that, the Adanis are not named, their officers may be named," the Former Attorney General of India said.

He detailed further, "There are two or three other counts relating to securities and bonds. In those three counts, the Adanis and others are named. This is a charge sheet alleging that these people, including Adanis have bribed Indian officials in Indian entities relating to the supply and purchase of power, but I do not find a single name or a single detail in the chargesheet as to who has been bribed, in what manner has he been bribed and the official belongs to such and such department.

"This charge sheet is completely silent, so I don't know how one can respond to this kind of chargesheets." he said.

In a legal indictment, count refers to individual charges against a defendant.

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