Indonesian parliament rejects Adaro investigation

JAKARTA, June 17 (Reuters) - Indonesian legislators on Tuesday rejected a proposal to investigate coal miner PT Adaro Energy over tax payments, removing a potential obstacle to its listing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

Several lawmakers had urged parliament to investigate Adaro, Indonesia's second-largest coal miner by volume, alleging that it had sold coal at a below-market price in order to reduce its tax bill.

Adaro has denied any wrongdoing and a director at the firm, Andre Mamuaya, welcomed the decision by a plenary meeting of parliamentarians on Tuesday.

"Everything should be on schedule then" for Adaro's listing, Mamuaya told Reuters.

Adaro this month raised $1.32 billion in Indonesia's largest-ever initial public offering, but is currently awaiting the go-ahead from the capital market watchdog, Bapepam.

The shares are due to start trading on July 2.

The majority of parliamentary factions voted against investigating Adaro, saying that any investigation should be handled by Indonesia's legal system.

Adaro's ownership has been the subject of a decade-long bitter legal dispute between two of Indonesia's wealthiest businessmen -- pulp-and-paper tycoon Sukanto Tanoto and investor Edwin Soeryadjaya.

Deutsche Bank, which had held a stake in Adaro as collateral for a loan to a Tanoto-linked firm, sold the shares when the borrower defaulted during the 1997-98 financial crisis.