Adani-Hindenburg row: SC asks SEBI about status of probe

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI about the status of its ongoing investigation into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group and said the probe has to be concluded expeditiously by the extended time it has granted till August 14Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the SEBI told a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that the apex court had given time till August 14 for the investigation and the work is going on with possible legitimate speedMehta told the bench also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra that the SEBI had on Monday filed their constructive response on the suggestions made by the top courtappointed expert committee in its report filed in the courtWe received the report of the expert committee So far as the references made on SEBI are concerned there are some guidance or some suggestions given We have filed our response yesterday It is a very constructive responseSince it was filed a little late it is not before your lordships he saidThe bench asked What is the status of the investigation by SEBIMehta said the time for completing the probe was extended by the apex court and the work is going onYour investigation has to be concluded because we had extended time till August 14 the bench said during the hearingAlso read17yearold temple priest found hanging in UPs EtawahOn May 17 the apex court had granted SEBI time till August 14 to complete its probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group and asked the market regulator to place on record an updated status report of the probeDuring the hearing on Tuesday Mehta said since the expert committee had made certain recommendations in its report the SEBI has given its response related to its functioningThat has nothing to do with the allegations We would like your lordships to have a look at it the solicitor general saidAdvocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for one of the petitioners told the bench they have filed a very detailed response to the expert committees report a few days ago in which they have pointed out that conclusions of the expert committee are at total variance with the facts the panel foundAnd the facts found in the expert committee report clearly show that there is not merely gross regulatory failure on the part of SEBI but there is no chance of SEBI proceeding anywhere with this investigation Bhushan saidThe court noted Mehta has informed the bench that SEBI has filed a response to the report which was submitted by the expert committee in relation to functioning of SEBIBefore the court can proceed further it would be appropriate that the response is circulated together with the paper which has not been done since it was filed yesterday the bench observed adding the same be circulated and placed on recordAn advocate representing another petitioner said the apex courts earlier order was specific that all agencies have to cooperate with the expert committeeHe claimed the committee report says that agencies are not cooperatingYou get it from your own imagination the bench observed adding Our order was that all agencies will cooperate with the committee We dont think the committee has a grievance that agencies have not cooperatedBhushan argued the committee has said that SEBIs investigation cant go anywhere because of the situation that they have created by amending the rulesThey have amended the rules to remove the definition of opaque structures they have amended the rules for related part transactions they have amended the rules for beneficial owners etc in order to prevent this kind of fraud from being exposed he claimedMehta said the SEBIs response also contains the details about itMr Solicitor General apropos this submission you may also go into the background which led to the amendment of the rules the bench saidThe bench said Bhushan is arguing that SEBI could be prevented from going into the layers of transactions because of the amendments which have been made for instance to the definition of beneficial ownersThe bench adjourned the hearing on the clutch of pleas on the AdaniHindenburg row and asked SEBI to circulate its response in which the capital markets regulator has tendered its views on the recommendations made by the expert committeeThe Solicitor General informs the court that SEBI has filed a response on issues pertaining to its functioning together with an IA interlocutory application to the the report which was submitted by the expert committee The response by SEBI be circulated to the court and all counsel the bench said adding list the petitions on August 29 2023The SEBI had in its application filed in the apex court on Monday said its 2019 rule changes do not make it tougher to identify beneficiaries of offshore funds and action will be taken if any violation is found or establishedThe markets regulator said it has continuously tightened rules concerning beneficial ownership and relatedparty transactions key aspects in the allegations of Adani Group manipulating its stock priceA Supreme Courtappointed expert committee had in an interim report in May stated that it saw no evident pattern of manipulation in billionaire Gautam Adanis companies and there was no regulatory failureIt however cited several amendments the SEBI made between 20142019 that constrained the regulators ability to investigate and its probe into alleged violation in money flows from offshore entities has drawn a blankOn May 17 the apex court had directed that copies of the report submitted before it by the top courtappointed Justice retd A M Sapre expert committee be made available to the parties to enable them to assist it in further deliberations in the matterAdani Group stocks had been bludgeoned on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations including those about fraudulent transactions and shareprice manipulation against the business conglomerateThe Adani Group dismissed the charges as lies saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirementsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever