Sharad Pawar supported Adani Group on April 7, 2023, and attacked the narrative around Hindenburg research. Compared to the rest of the Opposition, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head Sharad Pawar took a different stance on the Adani-Hindenburg dispute. In an interview with NDTV, Pawar defended the Adani Group and slammed the narrative around Hindenburg Research’s research on the business.
Adani Group’s ten publicly traded equities have lost almost $120 billion in market value since a Hindenburg Research report on January 24 accused it of inappropriate use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. However, the conglomerate rejects such claims.
In an interview with reporters on the Adani JPC demand, Sharad Pawar stated that if a JPC has 21 members, 15 will be from the ruling party and six from the opposition owing to numerical strength in Parliament, casting doubt on the panel.
In Adani JPC demand Sharad Pawar is in the favour of the Supreme Court committee
Sharad Pawar told reporters that if a JPC has 21 members, 15 will be from the ruling party and six from the opposition due to numerical strength in Parliament, casting doubt on the panel. He stated that the Supreme Court appointed a committee of retired Supreme Court justices with the directive to provide the findings within a particular time frame. Sharad Pawar said that he is not entirely opposed to the JPC.
There have been JPCs, and he has been the chairman of some of them. The JPC will be formed by majority vote (in Parliament). He believes a Supreme Court committee is more valuable and effective than a JPC. A foreign company takes a stance on the country’s situation. They must decide how much emphasis should be placed on this. Sharad Pawar added that a Supreme Court panel is more effective than the Adani JPC.
Sharad Pawar says that the “Adani Hindenburg” case is targeted
Pawar spoke to NDTV about the Adani Group and critiqued the narrative around Hindenburg Research’s research on the firm. According to him, such statements had been made by other people before, and there was a disturbance in Parliament for a few days, but this time, the problem was given an out-of-proportion importance. “We had never heard of these people who gave the statement; what is the background, “said Sharad Pawar.
They cannot ignore concerns that produce a commotion across the country since its economy carries the expense. “It appears that this was planned,” Sharad Pawar added.
The viewpoint of Sharad Pawar differs from that of congress on the Adani JPC demand
In addition to requesting the market regulator to investigate the market meltdown, the Supreme Court has created a six-member committee to investigate investors’ losses due to Hindenburg Research’s allegations. Pawar’s perspective varies from that of the Congress and other opposition parties who have called for the Adani JPC. Hindenburg Research has accused The Adani Group of manipulating stock prices and fraud. The Adani Group has labelled the claims “mala fide” and “malicious.”
Sharad Pawar also emphasized the contributions to the country by Indian business people such as Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, and Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd. These are the people, according to Pawar, who take on such duties and do their best for the good of the country as a whole. If they have done anything wrong, they must be criticized, but they have built this infrastructure; charging them doesn’t feel like a right to him.
If they have abused their authority and done something wrong, citizens can speak out against them in a democracy. To attack without anything meaningful is something he cannot understand. However, the senior legislator does not consider the questions brought against the multinationals as an “anti-business atmosphere.” “I refuse to accept that this was an anti-business environment.” “This has been going on in this country for many years,” he remarked, alluding to the scrutiny of large corporations.
Congress reiterates demand for Adani JPC probe into the Adani Hindenburg issue
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) should ensure complete disclosure of Foreign Portfolio Investors’ (FPIs’) ownership with retroactive effect, the Congress said on June 1, as it reiterated its position that only the Adani JPC (joint parliamentary committee) could investigate who ‘diluted and deleted’. The comment from Congress comes a day after capital markets regulator SEBI recommended enforcing extra information about ownership of high-risk FPIs to boost trust in the Indian securities markets.
On May 31, the SEBI issued a proposal requiring greater disclosures from high-risk FPIs to prevent potential circumvention of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) rule.
