The customs department has filed an appeal against the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s (DRI) order giving clean chit to two Adani firms in a power equipment overvaluation case of nearly Rs 4,000 crore, reported The Indian Express.
Coming out strongly against the DRI’s order, the customs department has called it illegal, erroneous, contradictory and indicative of total non-application of mind or recklessness.
On August 22, 2017, the DRI’s adjudicating authority, K V S Singh, dropped all charges filed by the agency against Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd (APML) and Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd (APRL) for allegedly inflating the total declared value of power equipments.
However, the customs department filed an appeal against it at the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Mumbai on November 28. It said dropping the charges against Adani firms by DRI was “erroneous, illegal and improper not only in law but also on facts”, adding, “(it) suffers from several contradictions which indicate either total non-application of mind or recklesness in passing of the order”.
In another setback to the Adani firms, the commerce ministry has rejected Adani Power's proposal to set up a special economic zone for the power sector in Jharkhand entailing an investment of Rs 15,002 crore as it was inconsistent with the sectoral guidelines.
The news agency PTI reported on Sunday that the decision was taken by the Board of Approval, the highest decision making body on special economic zone (SEZ) related matters, in its meeting on February 5.
