Vikrant Shekhawat : Nov 21, 2024, 10:40 PM
Adani Group Shares: India's leading industrialist Gautam Adani has been accused of bribery by US prosecutors, after which Adani Group shares saw a big sell-off. The US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have accused the Adani Group that the company had bribed government officials for a solar power project in India. Despite these allegations, the Adani Group has completely denied all these allegations and talked about taking legal action.Adani Group statementThe Adani Group issued a media statement calling these allegations baseless. The statement said, "The allegations leveled by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green are without any basis. We categorically reject these allegations." Along with this, the Adani Group also clarified that the US Department of Justice itself has said that the accused are considered innocent until proven guilty.The Adani Group expressed its commitment to maintaining transparency, governance and regulatory compliance across all its operational areas. "We assure all our stakeholders that we are a law-abiding organization," the group said in the statement.What are the allegations?US prosecutors have accused Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani of paying bribes worth about $250 million to government officials in India between 2020 and 2024 to get them favorable terms for solar power projects. According to these allegations, the Adani Group is estimated to benefit by about two billion dollars from this bribe. US prosecutors say that this bribe was concealed from the American banks and investors who provided billions of dollars of funds to the Adani Group for this project.Statement of the US AttorneyUS Attorney Brian Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, giving a statement in this case, said, "The defendants hatched an elaborate conspiracy to bribe Indian government officials to obtain contracts worth billions of dollars." He said that through these allegations, US law has been disregarded, and such corruption cases can be brought for hearing in US courts, as it is related to American investors and banks.Fall in sharesAfter this whole matter, Adani Group's shares saw a huge fall. An atmosphere of concern has arisen among the investors, which has reduced the market value of Adani Group. However, Adani Group has termed this fall as temporary and has expressed hope for a solution in accordance with legal procedures.Adani Group's response and futureAdani Group has clarified its stand and said that it will follow all legal remedies and maintain complete transparency in this matter. The group has also assured that all the allegations will be dealt with properly and the company is committed to maintaining its working standards.This matter has emerged as a big challenge for the Adani Group, but at the same time it is also clear that the group is ready to resolve the entire situation in a legal manner. Now it remains to be seen what new turn the American judicial process takes and what impact it will have on the global image of the Adani Group.