Supreme Court refuses to hand over Adani-Hindenburg investigation to SIT

The Supreme Court refused to form any SIT or group of experts to investigate the Adani-Hindernberg case.

A bench headed by Chandrachud said that SEBI should take its investigation to a conclusion as per law. There is no need to remove the investigation from SEBI in this matter. The three judge bench said that SEBI's investigation is appropriate and it is a competent agency to investigate this matter.

On Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's submission that 22 out of 24 investigations related to allegations against Adani group companies have already been finalized, the bench asked the market regulator to complete the two pending investigations in three months. Justice J.B. in the bench. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra were also included.

The top court said reports prepared by third-party organizations such as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Hindenburg Research cannot be considered as "conclusive evidence". Let us tell you that earlier while hearing this case on November 24, the court had reserved its decision by rejecting the questions being raised on the investigation of market regulator SEBI and the experts committee.

The court has asked SEBI to work on the suggestions of the expert committee to improve the existing regulatory system. The court rejected the questions raised on the members of the expert committee and said that the petitioner's argument of conflict of interest is meaningless. The court said that without solid grounds there is no basis to transfer the investigation from SEBI. It is not right to doubt SEBI's investigation or reach any conclusion on the basis of media reports.

In January, following the Hindenburg Research report and Adani Group's reply, four PILs were filed in the Supreme Court. In these PILs, an appeal was made to order various types of investigations against Adani Group. Only after hearing these petitions, on March 2, the Supreme Court had ordered the market regulator SEBI to investigate the disclosures of Adani Group and the manipulation of share prices. The court had clearly said that SEBI should investigate whether Adani Group has violated the existing rules or not.

The Supreme Court gave SEBI two months time to submit the report. In April last year, SEBI asked the court for 6 months time to complete the investigation, but the court gave it only time till August 14. On August 14, SEBI again asked for 15 days' time to complete the investigation. In the report submitted on August 25, SEBI said that it has completed the investigation in 22 out of 24 cases, in 2 cases the investigation has not been completed due to the delay from foreign institutions.