The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to impede the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg matter. The George Soros-led Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report could not serve as a foundation for casting doubt on the SEBI report, the Supreme Court ruled in its ruling, holding that there was “no ground to transfer the investigation from SEBI to SIT (Special Investigation Team)”.
The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions in the Adani-Hindenburg row over allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian corporate giant.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered the judgement on as many as four petitions.
“This court’s ability to access SEBI’s regulatory framework is restricted. No justifiable reason has been presented for SEBI to reverse the modifications it made to the regulations pertaining to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) and Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR). The judges noted that there are no flaws in the regulations,” the bench observed.
“SEBI has completed investigation in 20 out of 22 matters. Taking into account the assurance of the Solicitor General, we direct the SEBI to complete the investigation in the other two cases within three months,” it said.
“The reliance on unsubstantiated news reports and third-party organisations cannot be accepted to doubt the probe by a statutory regulator,” the judge stated.
It also rejected the arguments of petitioners regarding conflict of interest on the part of the members of the Expert Committee.
However, it was added that the government and SEBI should take into consideration the recommendations of the committee to strengthen the interest of the Indian investors.
