India's Parliament proceedings halted again over Adani graft issue

MPs disrupt proceedings, demanding discussion of billionaire's US indictment

NEW DELHI - India's Lower House of Parliament suspended proceedings for a second day on Nov 27 after disruptions by lawmakers demanding a discussion of the US indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani, while stocks of his group's companies clawed back some losses.

Last week, the US authorities accused him, his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani and managing director of Adani Green, Vneet S. Jaain, of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of US$265 million (S$356 million) to secure Indian power-supply contracts, and misleading US investors.

The ports-to-power conglomerate denied the charges as "baseless," and vowed to seek "all possible legal recourse".

India's opposition, especially the Congress party, accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of shielding Gautam Adani and blocking investigations against him in India, accusations that have been denied.