Congress to persist on its demand for JPC on Hindenburg-Adani issue

The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, has taken a diametrically opposite position, calling the JPC an exercise in futility

The Congress will continue with its demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Hindenburg-Adani revelations in the second part of the Budget Session that begins on Monday. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the second largest opposition party in Parliament, meanwhile, has taken a diametrically opposite position, calling the JPC an exercise in futility.

“We are persisting in our demand for a JPC which is the only way to unravel the full dimensions of the PM-linked Adani Maha Mega Scam,” Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh told  The Hindu.  

At a press conference held on March 2, coinciding with the announcement of a Supreme Court-appointed committee to probe the violations of SEBI law and regulations, Mr. Ramesh had stated that “any committee other than a JPC is an exercise in legitimisation and exoneration”.

The TMC, meanwhile, has taken a stance that a JPC probe would be inadequate. Rajya Sabha Parliamentary party leader of the TMC, Derek O’ Brien, argued that for a JPC, the chairman would be decided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Chairman and would have members from each party according to their numerical strength in Parliament. “This makes these committees skewed towards the ruling majority because of their numbers in the Houses,” Mr. O’ Brien said.

Almost in every JPC, there was never a consensus on the final report and on basis of brute strength the Opposition’s amendments were more often than not defeated. He also cited previous examples from 1987 and 2001 where he claimed that the JPC probes were ineffective. On the 1987 JPC on Bofors Scam, Mr. O’ Brien said the panel’s recommendations were neither accepted nor implemented. Similarly, in a probe into the share market scam of 2001, the JPC suggestions, though adopted, were later on diluted.

At the same time, the TMC maintained that the government had not yet answered questions about endangering common man’s savings invested in the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). Mr. O’Brien pointed out that, with fall in Adani Group’s shares, the LIC reportedly lost over ₹20,000 crore of investment value out of its total holding of ₹36,000 crore. The SBI has an outstanding exposure worth ₹27,000 crore in the same group. “The LIC-SBI issue is independent of the Adani issue. And it is very much alive,” Mr. O’Brien said.

The session will continue in the old Parliament building as the new one designed by Gujarat-based architect Bimal Patel is still incomplete.