Parliament LIVE Updates: The stalemate continued in both Houses of Parliament on Friday with the Congress-led Opposition demanding probe into the Hindenburg-Adani issue. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till Monday due to protests by opposition members demanding a probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks.
On Thursday, proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day as the Opposition, which claimed that “a significant volume of public money through SBI and LIC is locked in the Adani Group”, demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee or CJI-designated committee probe into the allegations of fraud and manipulation against billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies that have triggered an unprecedented stock crash.
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the stock market, with shares of its flagship, Adani Enterprises, tanking 15 per cent on Thursday, after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last week in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The market losses of the Adani Group have risen to nearly USD 103 billion (about Rs 8.5 lakh crore).
Political analysts reportedly see the issue as a good opportunity for the opposition to corner the Narendra Modi government in a crucial election year.
Meanwhile, the Gautam Adani-led group has denied all charges and called the report malicious and full of lies and termed it a “calculated attack” on India, its institutions and its growth story. It said the report was driven by “an ulterior motive” to “create a false market” to allow the US firm to make financial gains. Hindenburg has rejected Adani’s charge and has stood by the allegations made in the research report.
LIVE Updates From The Parliament
▶Rajya Sabha also adjourned till 11:00 am Monday amid sloganeering by Opposition MPs
▶Lok Sabha adjourned till 11:00 am on Monday.
▶BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani on Friday dismissed the Opposition’s allegation that investments by LIC in the Adani Group were made at the government’s behest and said there was no justification to the demands for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter. Wrongdoing in these investments, if any, would be probed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Rajya Sabha member said.
“What does the government have to do with this? Nobody has said what the government’s role is in this. LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) is an independent organisation. They have decided to make some investments,” Jethmalani said.
“The SEBI and the RBI will look into it. Let their reports come in,” he told PTI when asked on the Opposition’s demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue. “The demand for a JPC probe is not justified,” the MP said.
▶Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Friday due to protests by opposition members demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks. Soon after the House met for the day, opposition members were on their feet shouting slogans and demanding a probe into the tanking of the Adani Group scrips and sought a probe into the business practices of the corporate giant. Speaker Om Birla appealed to members to participate in the discussions during the Question Hour, which he termed as significant. However, an unrelenting opposition continued their protests and sloganeering, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till 2 pm.
▶Rajya Sabha also adjourned till 2.30 pm due to protests by opposition members demanding a probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout in Adani Group company stocks.
▶Sources told CNN News18 that in the Congress-led Opposition meeting, it was decided that a discussion on Adani row will be demanded and if the government does not allow it, Opposition parties will protest inside the Houses.
▶At least 16 Opposition parties met on Friday morning to coordinate their strategy in Parliament and decided to step up their attack on the government, demanding an immediate discussion on the issue of Adani stock rout
▶”A meeting of floor leaders of Opposition parties has been called on how to move ahead. We will discuss our further actions in the meeting. We had given notices yesterday but no discussion was done,” said LoP Mallikarjun Kharge on meeting to chalk out strategy amid row over Adani stocks.
▶BRS MP K Keshava Rao gives Suspension of Business notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 to discuss the Hindenburg report against Adani Enterprises.
▶Shiv Sena MP (Uddhav Thackeray faction) Priyanka Chaturvedi gives Suspension of Business Notice in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 to discuss the matter of “urgent public importance in light of reported incidents of overexposure of holdings of LIC, SBI, etc.”
▶Congress MP Manickam Tagore gives Adjournment Motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the Hindenburg report against Adani Enterprises.
▶DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva gives suspension of business notice under rule 267 to discuss “The adverse impact of the business activities of Adani group on India economically and morally.”
▶Congress MP Pramod Tiwari gives Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss “the issue of fraud in investment by LIC, SBI, Public Sector Banks and Other Financial Institutions losing market value.”
▶Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain gives Suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss “the issue of fraud in investment by LIC, SBI, Public Sector Banks and Other Financial Institutions losing market value.”
▶ CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem gives Suspension of Business Notice in Rajya Sabha Under rule 267 to demand discussion on “A high-level inquiry is essential on the allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research against the Adani group.”
▶CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem gives notice in Rajya Sabha under Rule 67 opposing the introduction of the Private Member Bill- ‘The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Repeal Bill, 2022’ by Harnath Singh Yadav listed for introduction today.
▶Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday called an urgent meeting of floor leaders of Opposition parties at 10 am in his parliament office to discuss strategy.
▶At a meeting of like-minded political parties convened by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, there was a general agreement on raising the Adani issue vigorously in both Houses and force the government to take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address from Monday. A section of the opposition leaders were of the view that the attack on the government should be targeted on “forcible” investments by public sector institutions in corporate entities having questionable business practices that have led to massive losses. These leaders were also of the view a reference to the Hindenburg Research should be avoided as it would amount to taking the issue out of the context of India.
▶A united opposition, led by the Congress, raised the issue as soon as the houses commenced for the day yesterday, with their MPs giving adjournment notices for a discussion on the issue. Though Opposition parties agreed to jointly raise the issue, they were yet to agree on the mode of inquiry into the Gujarat-based corporate major.
▶The chair in both the upper and lower house rejected the notices, prompting opposition leaders to question the presiding officers on procedures and asking what could be more serious than demanding a discussion involving hard-earned money of Indians in LIC and SBI invested in the Adani group stocks.
▶Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla denied the request for discussion, asking members to “not to make unsubstantiated claims” while Rajya Sabha chairperson, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, rejected notices, saying they were “not in order”.
▶Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge led the charge in the upper house, with nine MPs of various parties giving notices under rule 267 seeking suspension of the day’s business to discuss the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
▶In the Lok Sabha too, the opposition MPs stormed the well forcing adjournment within minutes of the house meeting and then again soon after lunch.
▶Leaders of several parties including the Congress, DMK, TMC, SP, JD(U), Shiv Sena, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, IUML, NC, AAP and the Kerala Congress, earlier held a meeting in the morning in Kharge’s chamber in the Parliament, where they strategised their plan.
▶Kharge told reporters that the opposition parties have also called for day-to-day reporting of the JPC or the SC-monitored probe into the issue as it concerned public money invested in Adani stocks which have taken a beating on the markets ever since the Hindenburg charges came out. “Keeping public interest in mind, we want a thorough probe into the Adani issue either by the JPC or the Supreme Court-monitored probe. There should also be day-to-day reporting of the investigation on the issue,” Kharge said.
▶Kharge has alleged that whenever opposition leaders give notices, they are not accepted by the chair, asserting that this is the reason all opposition parties jointly decided to raise the issue on Thursday
▶TMC’s Shantanu Sen said the opposition’s demand for a discussion on the matter under Rule 267 is rational and should be allowed.
▶Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook allows for the suspension of a day’s business to debate the issue suggested by a Member.
▶Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented her last full-fledged Budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Budget was focused on raising capital expenditure by the government, fiscal consolidation, and attractive incentives and rebates in the new income tax regime. The biggest announcement was the increase in rebate limit in the new tax regime — now the default — from Rs 5 lakh to 7 lakh.
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