US-based research organization Hindenburg Research’s allegations of fraud against billionaire Gautam Adani’s business empire have sparked a political row in India. Opposition leaders stalled the functioning of Parliament as they demanded an investigation into the claims. The research firm accused the Adani Group firms of stock manipulation and financial fraud last week, sending its shares into a sharp fall. The group has denied the allegations. Opposition parties have called for a joint parliamentary committee or a Supreme Court-monitored panel to be set up to investigate the allegations against the firm and the risk to Indian investors from the fall in Adani company shares.
The Adani Group’s companies have seen $108 billion wiped off their market value over the past few days after US-based investment firm Hindenburg Research published a report accusing it of decades of “brazen” stock manipulation and accounting fraud. The group has dismissed the allegations as malicious and untrue, calling them an “attack on India.” But the response has failed to stop the fall in Adani’s shares. Gautam Adani, the founder, has fallen out of the top 10 richest in the world. Strangely, the ruling BJP is maintaining a stoic silence. There is widespread allegation that Adani has close ties with top leadership of the ruling NDA government. The allegation of crony capitalism has hit the firm hard. The government should investigate into the allegation made by the Hindenburg Research. The allegations cannot be brushed off under the carpet. Also, the Adani Group trying to portray publication of allegations against them as anti-India is wrong. No one, including the Adani Group, is above the nation. Attack on them is not an attack on India for sure.