Who did Amazon pay Rs 8,546 cr as legal fees, Congress asks Centre

The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government alleging that e-commerce giant Amazon paid legal fees as graft and demanded an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the whole matter.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "the budget of law ministry is Rs 1,100 crore, so to whom the e-commerce company paid Rs 8,546 crore as legal fee in two years."

He asked whether the fee was paid to change some policy to give more room to Amazon. The Congress alleged that in the last one year, about 14 crore people have lost employment -- from small shopkeepers to people working in the MSME sector and this company is paying Rs 8,546 crore in legal fees.

Surjewala questioned, "Will the prime minister raise the issue and demand from his US counterpart to open bribery investigation against Amazon?"

The Congress questioned which politician and bureaucrat got the money or was this money given for changing the rules?

Surjewala asked about the inter-relation of the six companies of Amazon which paid the money. He demanded an investigation into whom they paid and why they paid.

The Congress also demanded a probe in the Adani port drug haul case and asked why the Mundra port has become a safe haven for drug smuggling.