The Congress on Sunday likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the Adani controversy to his silence on the Chinese incursions in Ladakh, and asked why his “close friend (is) lying so blatantly to investors and to the public”.

The party asked Modi why the regulatory authorities and investigating agencies should accept the Adani group’s claim that it had nothing to do with Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani, accused of managing shell companies abroad.

“Just because the Prime Minister is Mauni Baba on this issue (like on Chinese incursions) it doesn’t mean we stop asking questions of him,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted. His questions of the day focused on Vinod Adani. He asked Modi why “obvious misrepresentations by your favourite business group on his nefarious activities” should be accepted as the truth.

Ramesh cited the allegation by US short seller Hindenburg Research that Vinod Adani “manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities” that have “collectively moved billions of dollars into Indian Adani publicly listed and private entities, often without required disclosure of the related party nature of the deals”.

“In its January 29, 2023, reply to the charges, the Adani Group stated that ‘Vinod Adani does not hold any managerial position in any Adani listed entities or their subsidiaries and has no role in their day to day affairs’. Why is your close friend lying so blatantly to investors and to the public?” Ramesh said.

“In repeated public filings, the Group has described Vinod Adani as an intrinsic part of the Adani Group. For instance, this memorandum filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange in 2020 for a Rs 400 crore debt private placement clearly states: ‘Adani Group means S.B. Adani Family Trust, Adani Properties Private Limited, Adani Tradeline LLP, Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani, Vinod S. Adani and all companies and entities controlled directly or indirectly by S.B. Adani Family Trust or Adani Properties Private Limited or Adani Tradeline LLP or Gautam Adani or Rajesh Adani or Vinod S. Adani, separately or collectively’.”

Ramesh added: “On 16 September 2022, the Adani Group announced that ‘the Adani Family, through Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd, a special purpose vehicle, has successfully completed the acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd’. The acquisition catapulted Adani to the rank of India’s second-largest cement producer.

“The acquirer’s SEBI filing stated in no uncertain terms that ‘the ultimate beneficial ownership of the Acquirer is held by Mr. Vinod Shantilal Adani and Mrs. Ranjanben Vinod Adani’. Is it not a laughable falsehood for the Adani Group to now distance itself from Vinod Adani? “An Australian investigation has shown that Vinod Adani’s Pinnacle Trade and Investment, based in Singapore, controls a number of Adani Group assets in Australia. In 2020, Pinnacle entered into a $240 million loan agreement with Russia’s now sanctioned VTB Bank, and then went on to lend $235 million to a related party, likely connected to the Adani Group according to Forbes magazine.

“Does this not clearly show that Vinod Adani is at the centre of financial flows that leverage one group of Adani assets to send loans to another, as alleged by Hindenburg? Is this not worthy of investigation by SEBI and the Enforcement Directorate?”