A perusal of the recent Supreme Court order on the Adani-Hindenburg matter reveals that the verdict has limited itself to the conduct of inquiries by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the matter. Two of these inquiries are still ongoing. The apex court has ruled that there is no regulatory failure on SEBI’s part and hence no need for any external agency like a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to further investigate the matter. In other words, if the apex court has given any “clean chit”, it is to SEBI and not to the Adani group. Yet there are deficiencies in the Supreme Court judgment which can subvert the ongoing investigation into the Adani group and which merit reconsideration in the interest of justice.
Lack of scrutiny
The judgment records that SEBI has completed 22 out of the 24 investigations in the Adani-Hindenburg matter. It further notes that the court has not interfered with the investigations and it is for SEBI to take them “to their logical conclusion in accordance with law”.
