The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Saturday filed a plea before the Supreme Court for a six-month extension to complete its investigation into the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group.
The Apex Court allowed SEBI to continue its investigation in an order passed on March 2. It is to be noted that the investigation was supposed to be completed by May 2, 2023.
This investigation was in addition to the one ordered by the Top Court by an expert committee led by retired Supreme Court Justice AM Sapre.
SEBI stated in its application filed on Saturday that the investigation would take another six months to complete.
It also stated that it had informed the expert committee of the status, steps taken, and interim findings of its examinations and investigations.
The market regulator stated in its application that the 12 suspicious transactions cited in the Hindenburg report would necessitate a thorough investigation lasting at least 15 months due to their complexity and numerous sub-transactions.
Furthermore, the investigation would necessitate obtaining bank statements from multiple domestic and international banks, and because the bank statements would be for transactions undertaken more than ten years ago, this would take time and be a challenge.
However, the SEBI stated that it will try to complete the task in six months and has requested a six-month extension time.
“Applicant/SEBI also respectfully submits that for ascertaining possible violations related to mis-representation of financials, circumvention of Regulations and/or fraudulent nature of transactions in respect of 12 suspicious transactions mentioned herein above, given the complexity of the matter, SEBI in the normal course would take at least 15 months for completion of the investigation of these transactions, but is making all reasonable endeavours to conclude the same within six months,” the application stated.
Four petitions have been filed in the top court on the Adani-Hindenburg issue by lawyers M L Sharma, Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and activist Mukesh Kumar.
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate.
The report caused a drop in the share value of various Adani companies, and the conglomerate reportedly lost more than Rs 100 billion.
