The lawmaker added: “Such reckless acts of pursuit against its top industrialists could start a harmful narrative against India’s growth…reports Asian Lite News
A US lawmaker has taken aim at the Biden administration for investigating Gautam Adani and the Adani Group, reminding it that India is one of the few “reliable partners” in the region.
Representative Lance Gooden from Texas, in a letter to US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Tuesday, said that the American Department of Justice, instead of focusing on rising “violent crimes at home”, is “pursuing new expeditions to target businesses for alleged injustices abroad”.
Gooden also asked for the DOJ to share if there has been any negotiation regarding the investigations into the Adani Group, and any third-party or entity connected to George Soros.
“What is the DOJ’s contingency plan if India refuses to comply with an extradition request and claim sole authority over the case?” he wrote.
The lawmaker added: “Such reckless acts of pursuit against its top industrialists could start a harmful narrative against India’s growth. Not respecting India’s authority over this matter could strain and even permanently damage our international relations with a strategically important and key economic and political ally.”
Gooden, a Republican Party member, added that the “selective pursuits” of legal cases against foreign companies could “irreparably strain” the US’ global alliances.
He pointedly asked the administration if it is willing to escalate the case against the Adani Group into an “international incident” between Washington D.C. and an “ally” like India, and why no American citizen has been indicted in the case, which allegedly involves “a significant nexus” in the US.
Gooden highlighted that the “true goal” of the investigations against the Adani Group is to disrupt President-elect Donald J. Trump’s agenda to revitalise American industry, and that these investigations would directly “undermine” it. The incoming president is set to take office on 20 January, 2025.
“It would also be wise to pursue cases where the department (of justice) is certain we have appropriate and conclusive jurisdiction, aside from a serious shot at winning,” Gooden further wrote. As a result of the indictment, the Kenyan government cancelled contracts worth $2.5 billion with the Adani Group, while one of its companies had to cancel plans to raise $600 million through dollar-denominated bonds.
“Targeting entities who invest tens of billions of dollars to create tens of thousands of jobs for Americans only harms us in the long run… It discourages valuable new investors hopeful of investing in our country,” Gooden added.
A few weeks after the US presidential election in November, in which Trump beat the Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, the New York Eastern District Court indicted Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and a number of executives for allegedly planning to pay bribes worth Rs 2,029 crore to government officials in India.
The planned bribes were to allegedly ensure that government contracts would be given to the Adani companies. The indictment further alleged that the executives planned to hide this information from US investors, from whom the company raised investments.
The indictment was filed in the court in the Eastern District of New York in late October and made public on 20 November, 2024. The court documents allege that starting sometime in 2020, Ranjit Gupta, who was the CEO of Azure Power Global Ltd—a firm registered in Mauritius—and another employee from the company conspired with Gautam, Sagar, Vneet Jaain and others to pay bribes to the officials in the Indian government.
US has independent criminal justice, says Garcetti
US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti on Thursday emphasised the strong ties the US has with industrialists in the country and how America looks forward to continuing the partnerships for ensuring capacity-building takes place.
He made the remarks when asked to comment about the proceedings going on in the US related to Adani group chairman Gautam Adani and other executives.
US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said, “No I don’t have any comment on that. Obviously we have independent criminal justice system. It’s different than a lot of countries, but no, look, we have had amazing partners with the great industrialists here, with the big companies. We’ve sometimes been funding directly new factories, ports, and other things, and I would hope that that vision continues no matter what because we’re seeing a great new India be built and we’re seeing a capacity of Indian companies to do that outside of India. Whether it’s in the region in places like Sri Lanka or whether it’s in the eastern coast of Africa, I would hope we keep our eye on the ball that that is the most important thing of who has the capacity, how can we partner and ensure that debt traps and state-based, you know, more autocratic visions instead have democratic led industrialists from across both of our nations.”
The US indictment of Gautam Adani and others in the alleged bribery case has drawn questions from several quarters.
US Congressman Lance Gooden on January 7 wrote a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and said that the timing of the decision to pursue an indictment of Adani was to disrupt President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to revive the American economy.
The Congressman posed 5 questions to the Department of Justice one of which read, “Why has the DOJ pursued this case against Gautam Adani when the alleged criminal act, and the parties allegedly involved are in India? Do you seek to enforce justice in India?”
The Congressman went on to suggest that the charges could damage relations with one of the most reliable partners of the US, India.
In November last year, responding to the indictment Chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani said, “We faced a set of allegations from the US about compliance practices at Adani Green Energy. This is not the first time we have faced such challenges. What I can tell you is that every attack makes us stronger, and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone for a more resilient Adani Group. The fact is that despite a lot of the vested reporting, no one from the Adani side has been charged with any violation of the FCPA or any conspiracy to obstruct justice.” (ANI)
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