'Other than Adani, no one ever filed a case'

So the pen hasn't lost its might. Even though you were silenced, what you have been saying for the past six or seven years, is now internationally acknowledged. You have made the headlines.

I am certainly pleased. I am happy. What I have been saying for the past six years is now a topic of global discussion. Truthfully speaking, I never imagined this would happen and that is why I am so happy. I am proud too, because I have managed to carry out my duty as a journalist.

The Indian prime minister has been in the limelight over the past fortnight. He has been identified as the man behind the scenes of Adani's meteoric rise. That is why he is the centre of discussion too. He is the direct target of the opposition in parliament.  And yet not once has he even mentioned Adani's name, either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha!

You are right. Rahul Gandhi, Mahua Moitra, Adhir Chowdhury, Mallikarjun Kharge and many other members of the opposition have directly said that Adani has reached this position simply with the blind support of the prime minister and his government. And yet the prime minister has remained silent. Not once did he utter Adani's name. Not only that, 18 parts of Rahul's speech was expunged. That was a mistake. Just as they had banned the BBC documentary, it was equally foolish for the prime minister to remain silent, for the words of the opposition to be expunged. After all, everyone heard what was said. It is on YouTube. In today's world, any such action simply proves that something is being hidden, concealed.

The report of the US research company Hindenburg is explosive, yet the government has not murmured a word!

They have nothing to say! The incidents over the past two weeks have been shocking. I myself have been taken aback. Even 15 to 20 years ago no one heard the name of Gautam Adani. People wanted to know how this man, in just a couple of years, became the world's second wealthiest person. The Hindenburg report has many allegations against him. The opposition sees the government backing behind his rise. Mahua Moitra said that one and a half years ago she had written a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission about Adani. The state minister for finance also told the parliament that the allegations are being probed. But no one knows what progress has been made over the one and a half years. Hindenburg has made at least 30 specific allegations. They have pinpointed sources of his money, how it was amassed and what irregularities were undertaken. But there is no answer to all this!

The prime minister sidestepped the issue. The government is silent too. The prime minister vehemently promotes himself as faultless, free of any vice or corruption, so why this stand? You deal with politics and economics. What do you think?

I have no answer to this question. I really do not know. All I can say is that I have written a lot about Gautam Adani's activities. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of the Indian government's finance ministry issued a show cause notice, wanting an answer to many allegations against Adani. I wrote about all that. People can read about the DRI allegations and notices in my personal website 'parajnoy.in' under 'The A Files'. I do not know whether Hindenburg used information from there or not, but I know this much that I wrote about these issues five years ago.

What allegations did DRI bring about?

The allegations were that he was brining coal in from overseas, importing power generation machinery and spare parts, but not submitted the actual prices. At one time they would import diamonds, cut and polish these stones, set them in gold jewelry and export these. DRI found a lot of irregularities in this business too. They issued a show cause notice, but that is as far as things went. Indian government agencies themselves have made many such allegations. I wrote about all this along with evidence.

The allegations have now gained credibility. You are the only journalist named in the Hindenburg report. This is a matter of pride, but surely a cause of concern too?

As a result of the writing, there are six defamation cases against me in courts in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi. Due to the ruling of a certain court, I cannot write or speak anything against Adani. That injunction is two and a half years old now.

But you are speaking to me in this interview!

Yes, I am. But what I am saying is already out there in front of the public. I am not revealing anything new. I am not even giving my opinion. I am not judging whether what has transpired is good or bad. I am not even saying what predicament the Adani Group will face in the days to come. I am just speaking about what is real and what is visible before everyone. I first wrote about them in 2015. Why did I do so? Because that is my work. I even wrote a book about such matters. It is a journalist's duty to write about how an industrialist, who no one had even heard about, suddenly rose up, about the share prices, and how all this happened. I wrote about how the government tried to arrange 500 crore rupees for a power plant of Adani. Adani was benefitted the most from the power plant being established in a special economic zone. That was another issue. Without even paying the government 500 crore rupees in taxes, Adani had almost finalised getting the amount back. If the money hadn't even been paid, how can it be demanded back? That report was raised in parliament. It was discussed. Eventually Adani did not get the 500 crore rupees.

Is that why the case was filed? Is that why you stepped down as the editor of the 'Economic and Political Weekly'?

Exactly. There was one case after the other. The cases were against me, against those who wrote along with me. In May 2019, on the day before the election results were announced, all cases were withdrawn, but mine remained pending. In January 2021 during Covid, a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued in my name. I was scared and left my home to stay elsewhere for ten days. Then I turned up before the magistrate, saying here I am! That case continues.

Was there any hard hitting case, saying that nothing could be said or written against Adani?

That was with the Supreme Court's Justice Arun Misra. Many of his verdicts facilitated Adani in various ways. A verdict passed just a few days before his retirement, helped the Adani Group make 8000 crore rupees in a case under dispute. Me and my colleague, journalist Abir Dasgupta, wrote three reports about that. One of the headlines was 'Justice Arun Mishra's parting "gift" of rupees 8 thousand crore to Adani'. Adani filed a case in Ahmedabad. It was said that those headlines were a contempt of court. But no questions were raised about the contents of the report. The verdict in that case silenced me. I was ordered not to say or write anything about Adani. That was back in September 2020. After returning, Justice Arun Misra became the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.

Six cases in the four decades of our journalistic career must be devastating. It has been two and a half years since the order silencing you. Are you not taking any move to have the case withdrawn?

My lawyers are looking into that. I can say this much, I had requested Gautam Adani to withdraw the case against me. He neither said yes nor no. My report offended many others too. I wrote a book about the Ambanis -- 'Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambani' -- published in 2014. They sent lawyer notices four times, but didn't file any case. I had written about the Sahara Group's row with the income tax department. They sent a lawyer's notice too, but didn't proceed further after my reply. They didn't file any case either. The Times of India Group also sent a lawyer's notice regarding one of my reports. They didn't take up any case either. No one filed any case other than Adani.

Adani is so furious and that is why he is filing case after case. Is it because of revealing the prime minister's close proximity or raising questions to this end?

I do not have the answer to that. I present the facts and the readers form their opinions. Due to the court order, I cannot express my views, even though that is my fundamental right. For over four decades I have been presenting facts before the people. Yet for two and a half years now I haven't been able to do that in the way I want to. That hurts.

There are other causes of concern. The Adani Group has not stirred controversy in India alone, but in neighbouring Bangladesh as well. They are deeply concerned. The power export deal from Jharkand has not only created controversy, but has become a thorn in the flesh for Bangladesh.

It certainly is a cause of serious concern. Bangladesh has realised, albeit late, that the deal with Jharkand's Godda power plant has emerged as a deep problem. They are in dire straits and are looking for a way out.