The story so far: The Supreme Court today refused to transfer the ongoing probe by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) into Hindenburg Research’s allegations against the Adani Group to any other agency, saying that the scope of judicial review in such cases is “limited”.
On January 24 last year, the investment research firm Hindenburg Research LLC released a report alleging that the conglomerate had engaged in “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades” and that key listed companies had “substantial debt”. A sharp fall in the share value of various Adani companies, reportedly to the tune of $100 billion, was seen soon after the report was published.
This led to a batch of petitions being filed before the top court alleging that changes to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act (SEBI Act) had provided a ‘shield and an excuse’ for the Adani Group’s regulatory contraventions and market manipulations remaining undetected.
