Congress alleged that the National Stock Exchange (NSE) failed to take action against the embattled Adani Group and asked if there was pressure on the bourse and market regulator SEBI to go easy on the conglomerate.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed a set of three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the party's HAHK (Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun) series to target the government in the wake of the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks.
Ramesh alleged that the failure of market regulators like the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to protect Indian capital markets has "tarnished" their image and put a question mark on the integrity of India's financial markets.
In a statement addressing the prime minister, Ramesh said, You (PM) have used strong words in the past, calling on world leaders at G20 meets to eliminate safe havens for economic offenders, to track down and unconditionally extradite money launderers' and to break down the web of complex international regulations and excessive banking secrecy that hide the corrupt and their deeds.
Yet these same world leaders cannot have missed the high degree of tolerance you have shown for such activities by your own cronies, Ramesh said, attacking Modi.
The collapse in publicly-listed stock prices following the publication of these allegations has financially damaged lakhs of retail investors who invested in Adani Group stocks after being duped by artificially-inflated prices. The value of Adani Group stock crashed by Rs 9,50,000 crore between January 24 and February 6, 2023, Ramesh said.