Adani-Hindenburg Probe: Supreme Court Expected To Hear SEBI's Appeal On Time Extension

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeal by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on a time-extension of six months for the probe it was asked to conduct into the Adani-Hindenburg matter on March 2.

The apex court had constituted a six member panel monitored by former Supreme Court judge AM Sapre. The other members of the expert committee are former SBI chairman OP Bhatt, Justice JP Devadhar (retired), veteran banker KV Kamath, Infosys co-founder Nadan Nilekani and advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan, an expert on Securities law.

The Supreme Court had given two months to the expert panel to submit their findings. The panel submitted their findings in a sealed envelope on May 8. SEBI has asked for more time to deepen its probe.

The Hindenburg Allegations 

New York based shortseller, Hindenburg Research in January, made a series of tweets and released a report with a series of allegations against the Adani group. Some allegations in the report were: 

(a) The use of offshore entities to move billions of dollars into the listed Adani Group entities without the required disclosure of related party transactions

(b) Alleged violations of SEBI rules regarding public float, listing rules and disclosures

(c) Offshore funds having concentrated holdings in Adani Group entities

(e) Hindenburg alleged an 85% overvaluation in listed Adani Group companies due to underlying fundamental factors

(f) The Group’s association with certain third parties that are accused of violating Indian law

(g) Allegations on Vinod Adani, including his role in the Group, control over some offshore entities and other factors.

Adani's Rebuttal

The Adani group issued a series of statements and a 413-page rebuttal, vehemently denying and dismissing every allegation. The Group termed the allegations a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating
to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive.”

Political Allegations

Political parties have alleged the Adani group of Rs 20,000 crore coming through shell entities. In response, the Adani Group issued a statement denying the allegations. 

Adani Group

The Adani Group is a diversified organisation comprising many listed and private businesses with market leadership in transport logistics, energy utilities and large-scale infrastructure development. The Group’s flagship incubator entity – Adani Enterprises Ltd. – was incorporated in March 1993. The group employs over 45,000 people and operates in 22 Indian states.