Commerce Minister Anand Sharma today said there was no probe into corruption
allegations against US retail giant Walmart in India, saying agencies could look
into violations if any.
The world's largest retailer has disclosed that it is investigating allegations
of corrupt practices and alleged violations of US anti-bribery law in India,
China and Brazil, expanding similar ongoing investigations in Mexico.
"Allegations are allegations. In a rule-based and rule-governed country, if
there is any violation there are agencies who are there to look into it," Sharma
told journalists en route to Phnom Penh along with Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, when asked to comment about the allegations involving Walmart.
"I should not comment on the alleged FEMA violations which are yet to be probed
and even Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that he is yet to get any
report," Sharma said.
At the same time, he said there would have been no violations since September
when the FDI decision was notified with only one change about dispensation of
landlocked states which do not have cities with population of five million.
Walmart has not specified specific charges of corruption in any of the countries
it has mentioned but said it is probing allegations of potential violations of
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of the US.
The FCPA bars bribing officials of foreign governments.
The allegations have come at a time when the UPA government is pushing hard its
reform agenda, including FDI in retail.
The opposition BJP yesterday termed the graft allegations as a "serious issue",
and demanded a probe into the matter as well as a reply by the government.
Emerging story. Watch this space for updates as more details come in
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