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Plea moved in SC over HC refusal to probe Adani green contracts
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the refusal by the Bombay high court to probe procurement of energy contracts with states by Adani Green Energy Limited using alleged unlawful means
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the refusal by the Bombay high court to probe procurement of energy contracts with states by Adani Green Energy Limited using alleged unlawful means.
The high court order of March 27 dismissed a petition filed by social activist Jitendra Punamchand Maru seeking a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to begin a probe based on an indictment order issued in 2024 by the New York Eastern District Court in the United States and the Department of Justice.
The appeal filed by Maru in the top court last month has been verified successfully by the Supreme Court registry on July 11 and is likely to be listed soon.
The petition filed through advocate Ashishkumar Madanprasad Verma has questioned the high court’s conclusion in terming the petition as “an abuse of process of the court” while dismissing the same. The petition states, “The high court has passed the judgment on wholly erroneous grounds and in complete ignorance of the record of the case and failed to appreciate the seriousness of the offences committed by the guilty corporate group and its responsible officers.”
The petition further points out that there was no material before the court to arrive at such reasonings and findings as there is no evidence to show the petitioner had any business interest in pursuing the case.
It said that the judgment passed by the New York Eastern District Court and findings of that court “unequivocally established” serious offences that have been committed and the high court had to direct the registration of FIR and investigating into the matter to enquire how thousands of crores of rupees were illegally spent.
The high court had even faulted the petitioner over the delay of one decade as the offences complained of were committed in the year 2020- 2024. Though the New York Eastern District Court’s judgment came on November 20, 2024, the petition points out that the documents relating to the case were “exclusively in the domain of the parties therein” and the petitioner could not be blamed for the delay in approaching the court.
The petition before the HC had stated that the Ministry of Renewable Energy had formed the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to explore the possibility of increasing use of renewable energy in India. As a part of government tender issued in 2019, SECI awarded the manufacturing linked projects to Adani Green and Azure jointly.
It was alleged by him that around 2020, Adani Green Energy Limited - a renewable energy firm of Adani Group in conspiracy with a Delhi-based company Azure Global Limited secured power purchase agreements with states by paying huge bribes. “Bribes to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees, approximately ₹2,029 crores, have been paid to the officials of state governments and state owned discoms, which in turn profited the companies,” the petition said.
The petition further added that the HC erred to consider there was “absolutely no document on record” to show that the petitioner has “private interest or oblique motive” behind filing the petition.
It was stated that soon after coming to know the news about the US court indictment he obtained certified copies of the complaints from the concerned courts and filed a complaint before the CBI pursuant to which a petition was filed in the high court.
Maru said, “Had the bribery not been committed and exaggerated prices not been paid for purchase of power, common citizens of India would have been the beneficiaries and as such, it is a fraud not only against the Union of India and state governments but against the citizens at large.”
