The recent report by short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Madhabi Puri Buch, the chief of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), of having links with offshore funds used by the controversial Adani group. The Opposition has said that the allegations have “gravely compromised” the “integrity” of SEBI, “which is entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors”.

The Congress has demanded a parliamentary probe into the allegations. It has also asked the Centre to “eliminate all conflicts of interest in the SEBI investigation of Adani”.

Explaining that the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the Adani Mega Scam goes far beyond the revelations made by Hindenburg Research’s reports, the Congress alleged that the irregularities and wrongdoings relating to the Adani Group span every dimension of the political economy, as documented in “our 100 question series HAHK (Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun)”.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X Friday to list “some key elements of this scam”. These are:

* Misuse of India’s investigative agencies to secure Adani monopolies in ports, airports, cement and other critical sectors.

* The extraordinary favouritism shown by government banks, particularly the SBI, in providing credit to key projects, including the Adani copper plant at Mundra, the airport in Navi Mumbai, and the UP Expressway Project

* Subordination of India’s foreign policy interests to the needs of Adani Enterprises, at the cost of India’s standing in the neighbourhood

* Handing over of India’s strategic relationship with Israel to a single company, Adani

* Coal and power equipment over-invoicing which has not only facilitated money-laundering and abnormal profits, but also raised the common citizen’s electricity bills

* Unregulated extension of leases over publicly-owned assets to Adani Group at throwaway prices

“The Hindenburg allegations do not refer to any of the above. Its allegations are limited to those that deal with the capital markets — stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and conflict of interest in regulatory agencies. Hindenburg is only the tip of the iceberg,” Ramesh added and stressed that only a JPC can investigate and unravel the true and full extent of this “Modani mega-scam”.

Meanwhile, the BJP has accused the Congress of being “involved in creating economic anarchy” and “hatred against India”.