Even after nearly nine months since Hindenburg Research¡¯s report came out to rattle the Adani Group,?it seems that the story is far from over. Despite the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate repeatedly denying any wrongdoings right from day one, the allegations against the Adani Group have just kept mounting.
And the?bloodbath in?Adani shares since this morning has sounded the alarm about another trouble.?
A recent PIL (public interest litigation) has alleged in an affidavit that India¡¯s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),?suppressed important facts from the Supreme Court and "slept over" the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)'s?letter on alleged stock manipulation by the?Adani?firms.
The Supreme Court has received four PILs on the Adani-Hindenburg controversy, including those by lawyers ML Sharma and Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and law student Anamika Jaiswal, as per a Business Standard report.
On August 25, SEBI informed the Supreme Court that it had completed the probe into all but two allegations against the Adani Group and is still awaiting information from five tax havens on the actual owners behind the foreign entities that have invested in the conglomerate.
The SEBI told the SC that out of 24 matters it was probing, findings in 22 have been finalised.
Jaiswal's affidavit said that while the investigation against the Adani group was going on in the over-invoicing case, DRI sent a letter to the then?SEBI?chairperson in 2014 alerting him that the group may be committing stock market manipulation using the money allegedly siphoned off using the modus operandi of over-valuation in the import of power equipment.
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The letter was accompanied by a CD containing evidence of siphoning off Rs 2,323 crore and two notes on the case being investigated by the DRI, the affidavit claimed. The letter, the affidavit said, also stated that more documents may be obtained from the Mumbai Zonal Unit of the DRI.
"The petitioner herein submits that not only has the SEBI suppressed important facts from this court and slept over DRI alerts, but there is also an apparent conflict of interest in SEBI conducting the Adani investigation."
"Cyril Shroff Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has been a member of SEBI's Committee on Corporate Governance, which looks at offences like insider trading," the affidavit said, adding his daughter is married to Gautam Adani's son. This, the affidavit said, shows a clear conflict of interest.
The petitioner submitted that five out of the 24 SEBI investigation reports are on insider trading allegations against the Adani Group companies.
In a fresh twist on the Hindenburg-Adani issue, a former Adani contractor has sought intervention in the matter before the Supreme Court.?Ajay Kumar Agarwal, a director of EBPL Ventures, which was the electrical contractor for Adani's Sarguja Rail Corridor project, filed an application on Tuesday seeking the apex court's permission to intervene in the SEBI-Adani matter.
As Pet ET reported, in his petition, Agarwal said he is an interested party as?he has worked for the Adani Group as a contractor for its projects?and has closely observed the working of the conglomerate, and that he would like to assist the apex court to protect the larger interest of investors.
Also Read:?LIC Bought More Shares In 4?Adani?Companies Despite Hindenburg?Report?
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