One-man commission to investigate charges of Wal-Mart India lobbying

Wal-Mart had said at the time that its internal inquiry will be to gauge potential violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

However, as soon as media reports were out in India regarding the disclosures of Wal-Mart’s lobbying spends, the US administration defended the global retail giant stating there were no violations by the company according to the US laws. “On the US side, I don’t have any reason to believe that we have a violation of US law here. With regard to the Indian side, I’ll refer you to them,” state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland had said on December 11, 2012, categorically dismissing allegations by Indian opposition parties in this regard.

According to the US official, the Lobby Disclosure Act of 1995 and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 requires lobbyists for any company or organisation to disclose its activities in a periodic report to Congress.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart chief executive Doug McMillon told commerce industry and textile minister Anand Sharma in Davos on Thursday that Wal-Mart was “excited about India.”

McMillon, who is the CEO of Wal-Mart International, told Sharma that the company is studying the conditions before making the final announcement of expanding its pressence in the multi-brand retail sector in India, an official statement issued by the government said on Thursday.

On his part, Sharma said that India’s Policy

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