New Delhi: A day after coming out in support of the Adani group, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that he was not against a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the group, but a Supreme Court order. against the committee. would be more effective.
Holding a news conference, Pawar also said that he did not know about the antecedents of the US-based Hindenburg Research, and “we will have to decide how much attention should be paid to it”.
He said the apex court decided to appoint a panel of retired Supreme Court judges to probe the issue and directed that its report be submitted within a specified period.
“I am not totally opposed to JPC. There are JPCs and I have been the chairman of some JPCs. JPCs will be formed on the basis of majority (in Parliament). Instead of JPCs, I think the Supreme Court committee more useful and effective,” Pawar said.
The NCP chief further said, though 18-19 opposition parties have come together on the Adani issue, not all of them will get representation in the JPC, as some of them have only one or two members in Parliament.
He said that if a JPC has 21 members, about 15 of them would be from the ruling party.
Pawar said he was not aware of the past history of Hindenburg Research, which has been accused of stock manipulation and accounting fraud in billionaire Gautam Adani’s firms.
While the Adani group has denied the allegations, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress and other opposition parties have been trying to corner the Narendra Modi government on the issue and have been pushing for a JPC probe.
Pawar further said, “A foreign company takes a position about the situation in the country. We should decide how much attention should be given to it. Instead of it (JPC), a Supreme Court panel is more effective.”
On Pawar’s stand, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the NCP may have its own view but 19 like-minded opposition parties believe that the issue of the “Adani group linked to the prime minister” is real and very serious.
Similarly, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that Pawar’s stand will not lead to a crack in the opposition unity in Maharashtra as well as in the country.
In his interview with NDTV that aired on Friday, Pawar criticized the narrative surrounding the Hindenburg Research report and said that “the issue was blown out of proportion”.
Responding to a question on Saturday whether he had supported the Adani group in the TV interview, Pawar said he had said no such thing.
“I had said earlier that when we attack the government, we will take the name of Tata-Birla. Now we do not take this name. But Tata has contributed to the development of the country.”
The former Union minister said people were facing more important issues like unemployment, price rise and farmers’ problems.
