Author: Ayush Joshi

By Ayush Joshi, Abir Dasgupta and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Documentary evidence spanning two decades exposes operational alliances, parallel policy violations and divergence in government responses to allegations of financial misdemeanour and fraud in entities associated with the Adani group and Rajesh Exports. In the same area of business, that is, trading in diamonds and gold, come the dubious activities of fugitive Jatin Mehta, who is related by marriage to Adani group head Gautam Adani’s older brother Vinod Adani. In an interim order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) dated June 3, 2026, Rajesh Exports Limited (headed by…

The story of India’s most unusual bank that operated outside RBI regulation for over five decades being told for the first time Ayush Joshi & Paranjoy Guha Thakurta In India’s intricate and highly-regulated financial system, virtually every bank, large or small, a scheduled commercial bank or an NBFC (non-banking financial company), has to perforce answer to a single, omnipotent referee: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank and apex monetary authority. Among other things, the RBI regulates banks’ capital reserves and supervises how audit ledgers should be prepared, to ensure that the savings of ordinary citizens are…

Ayush Joshi and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta For decades, the First Leasing Company of India (FLCI) projected an image of itself as a firm that was robust and healthy, reporting impressive growth and securing high credit ratings. The facade crumbled in 2013 when a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) inspection alleged that the company had falsified its financial statements to hide an asset discrepancy of approximately ₹1,676 crore. Among the victims of the so-called scam are employees of a Rajasthan government company who claim they have been waiting for years for their dues. They feel cheated that the legal system and…