Adani-Hindenburg Row: Plea in SC Seeking Review of Jan 3 Verdict

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a review of its January 3 verdict, in which it declined to transfer the investigation into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI.

In a significant victory for the Adani Group, the apex court had refused to order a probe by the CBI or SIT, stating in its judgment that the market regulator SEBI was conducting a “comprehensive investigation” into the allegations and its conduct “inspires confidence”. The petition asserted that there were “mistakes and errors” in the judgment, and in light of certain new material received by the petitioner’s counsel, there were sufficient grounds for a review of the verdict. Anamika Jaiswal, one of the petitioners in the case, filed the review petition.

The plea, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, highlighted that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had only provided the court with an update on the status of the 24 investigations it conducted following the allegations, whether they were complete or ongoing, without disclosing any findings or details of action taken.

“It cannot be inferred that there has been no regulatory failure unless the findings of the SEBI investigations are publicly reported,” it contended.

In its judgment, the apex court had acknowledged that SEBI had completed its investigation in 22 out of the 24 matters where allegations had been leveled against the Adani Group.

“There are apparent errors on the face of the impugned order dated January 3, 2024, wherein this court rejected the petitioner’s plea to establish a court-monitored SIT into the massive fraud involving market manipulation through offshore entities owned by promoters of the Adani Group. Hence, the impugned judgment is liable to be reviewed,” the plea stated.

The apex court had delivered its verdict on a batch of petitions regarding the Adani-Hindenburg Research dispute over allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian business conglomerate. Following allegations made by Hindenburg Research, including those concerning fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, the Adani Group stocks experienced significant declines on the stock exchanges.

The Adani Group refuted the allegations as false, asserting its compliance with all laws and disclosure requirements.