22112024-TTB-01.qxd 11/22/2024 12:18 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 323 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI FOR FIRST TIME, RUSSIA FIRES N-CAPABLE ICBM AT UKRAINE WORLD /thetribunechd NIA RAIDS MULTIPLE LOCATIONS IN TERROR PROBE CASES J&K GOOGLE TOLD TO SELL INDIA WANTS TO SERVE CHROME TO END HUMANITY: PM MODI IN MONOPOLY BUSINESS GUYANA BACK PAGE friday | 22 november 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com $265 mn‘bribery’ case: NY court Indian officials ‘paid off’to bag indicts Adani Group chief, 7 others solar energy supply contracts Dealsyield $2 bnin profits to conglomerate over 20 years Arrest warrants in US against Adani, nephew Tribune News Service & Agencies Chandigarh/NewYork, Nov 21 A New York court has issued arrest warrants against Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, and his nephew, Sagar Adani, following their indictment in the US along with six others on charges of bribery of $265 million (around Rs 2,238 crore). US prosecutors alleged that Adani, Sagar and the six others paid bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy supply contracts yielding $2 billion in profits over 20 years. The US District Court has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Adani and seven others. The charges include promising $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud US investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. Adani and the others have continued on page 8 edit: Adani in trouble FRESH CHARGES AGAINST INDIA’S SECOND-RICHEST MAN EIGHT WHO’VE BEEN CHARGED DEFRAUDED US INVESTORS Gautam Adani; his nephew and Adani Green executive director Sagar Adani, its CEO Vneet S Jaain; Azure Power’s ex-CEO Ranjit Gupta, ex-chief strategy and commercial officer Rupesh Agarwal, ex-member of the Board of Directors Cyril Cabanes; and Canadian firm CDPQ’s ex-employees Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra (both linked to Cabanes). ■ Adani and the others have been indict- ed for raising money for a “bribery scheme” from US investors. ■ The group raised $2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, based on false and misleading statements. HOW ‘KICKBACKS’ PAID FOR PSU CONTRACTS POWERED ADANI FIRMS ■ Dec 2019-July 2020 PSU Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) contracted to buy 12 GW solar power from Adani Green & Azure Power; SECI looks for discoms in states to buy power ■ 2020 Project is jeopardised as SECI struggles to find buyers due to high pricing; Adani, Sagar & others devise scheme to pay bribes to Indian government officials in quid pro quo for buyers ■ Aug to Nov 2021 Adani meets an Andhra official, who is later offered $207 mn after which state discoms agree to buy 7 GW power; officials in other states offered $33 mn bribe for similar pacts; Suraj tracks bribe details via mobile ■ 2021 to Feb 2022 Discoms in Odisha, J&K, TN, Chhattisgarh & Andhra sign pacts with SECI for power, which it is to buy from Azure & Adani Green April to June 2022 Azure CEO Ranjit Gupta is asked to quit; mechanism on how Azure will repay Adani Green $83 mn for its share of bribes is worked out — 2.3 GW pact with SECI to be returned, further awarded to Adani Green ■ March 2023 FBI agents approach Sagar in US with search warrant, seize gadgets, serve him with a subpoena; details of offences, entities being probed shared with Adani ■ March 2024 SECI allows reallocation of purchase deals for 2.3 GW power from Azure to Adani Green ■ CHARGES BASELESS, COMPLIANT WITH LAWS: ADANI The Adani Group has termed the allegations “baseless” and said it is compliant with all laws. “The allegations against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” its spokesperson said in a statement, adding all possible legal recourse would be sought. Rahul wants tycoon arrested; issue set to rock Parl session Aditi Tandon & Shubhadeep Choudhary Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 21 A US court indictment of Gautam Adani and others for allegedly bribing Indian officials to secure lucrative contracts while raising funds from American investors triggered a political slugfest between the Congress and the ruling BJP on Thursday with the rivals accusing each other of protecting the corrupt. Armed with fresh fodder on the issue ahead of the winter session of Parliament, which begins on Monday, the Congress sought Adani’s arrest, besides renewing its call for a joint parliamentary panel probe into alleged financial irregularities by the Adani conglomerate. Adani denied all charges even as the Opposition vowed a joint strategy to corner the government on the issue in the upcoming Parliament session. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi led the offensive today, seeking Adani’s Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. Writing driven bÿ emotionß. uninterrupted bÿ barrierß. Re-Chargeable with cartridge PPIN Private Limited UNTRY OF CO JAPAN ORIGIN Registered Office & Factory Address: Plot No. 255, Sector-6, IMT Manesar, Gurugram-122052, Haryana, India For any enquiry please contact: +91 9729067761 E-mail: consumercare@pilotpen.co.in | Tel.: +91 124-6926000 Website: www.pilotpen.co.in 2023-24 Connect with us Also Available at Available at all leading stores c m y b arrest and accusing PM Narendra Modi of protecting the businessman. The BJP hit back, dismissing all allegations as “part of a familiar Congress pattern of using lies and invectives to malign PM Modi’s reputation”. “The Gandhi family cannot tolerate Indian economy’s rapid rise. Rahul’s international structure involving Ilhan Omar and George Soros wants to impact Indian markets... but the PM’s credibility is high. While Rahul holds a press conference here, PM Modi is being conferred with top civilian honours miles away (Guyana and Dominica),” BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said while countering Rahul. The BJP also questioned the timing of the new allegations on the eve of the Parliament session. Earlier today, Rahul questioned why Adani, “charged by a US court and facing arrest warrants there, is a free man in India despite continued on page 8 Even Kasab got fair trial:SC in Yasin case Suggests setting up court in Tihar Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 21 Noting that even 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case accused Ajmal Kasab was given a fair trial in India, the Supreme Court on Thursday suggested setting up a court in jail to cross-examine Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik who is facing trial in a case related to the murder of four IAF personnel in 1989. “In our country, a fair trial was given even to Ajmal Kasab... A courtroom can be set up in jail, just find out how many witnesses are there. Even they will need security. We need to see how the judge will be posted in jail only for COURT FOR SHIFTING ENGINEER RASHID CASE A Delhi court on Thursday urged the district judge to transfer the J&K terror-funding case to a court designated to try lawmakers after observing one of the accused, Engineer Rashid, was now a Member of Parliament. INSIDE this court,” a Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih said. A special court in Jammu has sought Malik’s appearance for the cross-examination of witnesses in two cases — the killing of four IAF personnel and abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of late Mufti continued on page 8 Helpless in curbing pollution: Hry minister on toxic NCR air Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, November 21 Haryana Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh on Thursday said his government was aware of rising air pollution in districts adjoining national capital, but was currently helpless and would seek the Cen- tre’s help in working out a long-term solution. He said he would soon meet Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in this regard. The statement came as Delhi and its adjoining areas, mainly Gurugram and Faridabad, continued on page 8 edit: NCR’s choking reality