Plea In Supreme Court For Contempt Action Against SEBI For Not Completing Probe In Adani-Hindenburg Matter

The batch of petitions concerning the Adani-Hindenburg matter is yet to be listed in the Supreme Court, though the matter was scheduled to be heard on August 29, 2023. On November 6, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, had mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India seeking urgent listing.

 "The matter was to be listed on 29th August but it has been deferred," Bhushan had said. CJI DY Chandrachud then had assured that he will examine the matter with the Registry.

On January 24, US-based short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, published a scathing report accusing the Adani Group of widespread manipulations and malpractices aimed at inflating its stock prices. In response, the Adani Group vehemently refuted the allegations by publishing a comprehensive 413-page reply.

Subsequently, a group of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) was filed in the Supreme Court by Advocates Vishal Tiwari, ML Sharma, Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur, and activist Anamika Jaiswal. These PILs sought a court-monitored probe into the matter. On March 2, the Supreme Court constituted a committee to investigate examine if there is any regulatory framework in the matter. The SEBI was also directed to probe into the allegations against Adani group.  The expert committee was composed of Mr. OP Bhat (former Chairman of SBI), retired Justice JP Devadhar, Mr. KV Kamath, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, and Mr. Somasekharan Sundaresan, with former Supreme Court judge Justice AM Sapre heading the committee. 

The two months’ time originally allowed by the apex court for SEBI as per its March 2 order ended on May 2.

However, in May, the SEBI filed an application in the Supreme Court, requesting a six-month extension to complete its probe. In its affidavit, SEBI had stated that the transactions in the matter were complex and required more time to examine. SEBI also informed the apex court bench that it had already approached eleven overseas regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMOU) with International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) with respect to its investigation into Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms the investigation required more time.