The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) should ensure complete disclosure of ownership of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) from retrospective effect, the Congress said on June 1, as it reiterated its stance that only a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) can investigate to ascertain who ‘diluted and deleted’ this rule that benefited the Adani Group.
The Congress statement came a day after capital markets regulator SEBI proposed mandating additional disclosure around ownership of high-risk FPIs to enhance trust in the Indian securities markets. On May 31, the SEBI came out with a proposal mandating enhanced disclosures from high-risk FPIs to guard against possible circumvention of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) requirement.
‘Forced to dilute’
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh alleged that the market regulator is now proposing to tighten the rule it was “forced to dilute” in December 2018 and was deleted in August 2019 that helped the Adani Group.
Mr. Ramesh said all like-minded Opposition parties would raise this demand in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament in the new Parliament building.
“The purpose is to hold a proper investigation in the Modani scam. A JPC can only bring out the truth in this regard. When we sit in the new Parliament building, we will raise this demand again. All parties will raise this issue and demand once again a JPC probe into the Adani issue during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” he told reporters.
“Why did the SEBI come out with a consultation paper? The important recommendation by the Supreme Court committee said that India had suffered because of the removal of this rule,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding it was the first step towards transparency.
The party also launched a booklet related to the 100 questions which the party asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi since February on the Adani issue. Along with the booklet, the Congress also uploaded videos on YouTube in which party functionary Amitabh Dubey explains how the alleged scam involving the Adani Group affects people’s daily budget such as higher power bills and costlier air fares.
