DRI investigation into coal importers: Conspiracy to slow down probe, SIT should take over, says Congress

The DRI is probing at least 40 companies, including a few Adani Group firms, two companies of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), two Essar Group firms and a few public sector power firms for alleged overvaluation of coal imports from Indonesia, collectively pegged at Rs 29,000 crore, between 2011 and 2015.

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Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the probe by the DRI had begun way back in October 2014. “I think an SIT must be set up… Time has shown that that is the only alternative,” he told reporters.

Ramesh said there was a “conspiracy” to slow down the probe as companies being probed include the Adani group. He alleged that the resolution of the “scam” was held up because the State Bank of India (SBI) had declined to provide to the

DRI information lying with its Singapore branch pertaining to coal imports from Adani firms.

Ramesh released a letter that, he said, was written in 2016 by the then Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya requesting her to ensure that “the documents as sought by the DRI are made available to them, at the earliest.”

He also released Bhattacharya’s reply stating that “our Singapore operations got the issue legally examined and based on the regulations and the legal opinion, they were unable to share the documents”.

“This is an extraordinary situation. With this, I think the very sanctity of the Government of India is being called into question,” he said, adding “all because of Adani.”

The Indian Express had reported on June 20, 2016, that three state-owned banks declined to provide the DRI information lying with their overseas branches regarding transactions by companies in connection with the coal imports case.

Ramesh said the Congress was not against corporate India. “The Congress stands for a healthy corporate India, a strong corporate India… a corporate India that functions according to rules and regulations and not on political whims and fancies… but when there is evidence of a nexus… evidence that laws have been broken, then action must be taken against the corporate sector, however influential they are,” he said.