Adani Group Shares Bleed Again After Petition Filed Against SEBI For Not Completing Hindenburg Enquiry

Shares of most Adani group companies again fell today after a plea was filed in the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

Why Has A Petition Been Filed Against SEBI?

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The plea has been filed against India's market regulator SEBI for not completing its inquiry in the Adani-Hindenburg matter within the timeline framed by the apex court. It also asked the court to seek an explanation from the market regulator for failure to comply with its directions.

It said that the Supreme Court had on May 17 asked SEBI to submit its investigation report in the case by August 14. However, the report is yet to be filed, advocate Vishal Tiwari, who is also one of the petitioners in the matter, said. Tiwari also sought directions to the expert committee set up by the Supreme Court to inquire into the report published by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which accused the Adani Group of alleged stock manipulation and investments via "opaque¡± Mauritius funds, as per ET.

How Have Adani Group Shares Reacted?

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Adani Enterprises share price fell more than 2.5% today, Adani energy and Adani ports fell more than 0.8%, Adani transmission fell more than 1.3%, Adani green share price fell nearly 0.9% and Adani total gas fell more than 0.7% today after the plea was filed in Supreme Court.

What Had SEBI Said About The Probe?

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Earlier, SEBI had told the top court that it had completed the probe into all but two allegations against the Adani Group and was awaiting information from five tax havens on the actual owners behind foreign investors investing in the conglomerate. The application by Tiwari said that the primary focus of the PIL was on what steps shall be taken in future to strengthen the regulatory system so that the investors could be protected and their investments in the share market remain safe.

"But now the question arises whether the present regulatory authority is efficient enough or if some changes are required by setting up a new regulatory body with a more efficient mechanism so that in future such damaging incidents may not occur in the share market and the investors' money may be protected," he said in his 15-page application.

As per the report, a strong mechanism is also required to keep a vigil upon the companies' conduct and practices whether they are complying with necessary rules and regulations laid down by the regulatory authority. "That till now after the recommendations and suggestions given by the expert committee in its report, the Union government has not taken any strong step in compliance of that and has not apprised the court with any secured framework for the protection of investors in future," the application said.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has been hearing four petitions alleging market manipulation and other malpractices in the equities market by Adani Group companies. It had ordered an investigation into Hindenburg's allegations following several PILs that sought direction to the government and Sebi to probe the matter.

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