The Supreme court of India has received an application for initiating contempt proceedings against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for not following the time frame given by the court in completing the investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg matter.
Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who is also one the petitioners asked for a Court-monitored probe on the issue through a PIL, stating that the SEBI had to submit its report by August 14’ as per the order passed in May.
The PIL states that the market regulator is yet to submit its final report.
The applicant also talked about the report that was recently published by by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which alleged Adani Group companies of stock market manipulation.
The applicant has sought direction to the Expert Committee by the Supreme Court to inquire into the OCCRP report.
The PIL directed Government and the SEBI for implementing the suggestions made by the Expert Committee to strengthen the regulatory framework.
The batch of petitions concerning the Adani-Hindenburg matter is yet to be listed in the Supreme Court, though the matter was scheduled to be heard on August 29, 2023.
On November 6, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, had mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India seeking urgent listing. “The matter was to be listed on 29th August but it has been deferred,” Bhushan had said. CJI DY Chandrachud then had assured that he will examine the matter with the Registry.
On January 24, US-based short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, published a scathing report accusing the Adani Group of widespread manipulations and malpractices aimed at inflating its stock prices. In response, the Adani Group vehemently refuted the allegations by publishing a comprehensive 413-page reply.
Subsequently, a group of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) was filed in the Supreme Court by Advocates Vishal Tiwari, ML Sharma, Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur, and activist Anamika Jaiswal.
These PILs sought a court-monitored probe into the matter. On March 2, the Supreme Court constituted a committee to investigate examine if there is any regulatory framework in the matter.
The SEBI was also directed to probe into the allegations against Adani group. The expert committee was composed of Mr. OP Bhat (former Chairman of SBI), retired Justice JP Devadhar, Mr. KV Kamath, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, and Mr. Somasekharan Sundaresan, with former Supreme Court judge Justice AM Sapre heading the committee.
The two months’ time originally allowed by the apex court for SEBI as per its March 2 order ended on May 2.
However, in May, the SEBI filed an application in the Supreme Court, requesting a six-month extension to complete its probe. In its affidavit, SEBI had stated that the transactions in the matter were complex and required more time to examine.
SEBI also informed the apex court bench that it had already approached eleven overseas regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMOU) with International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) with respect to its investigation into Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms the investigation required more time.
The Supreme Court initially refused to grant a full six-month extension but extended the deadline to August 14, 2023.
The bench had passed the extension order on May 17. As the second deadline was set to end, SEBI requested an additional 15 days to complete its investigation. In its application, SEBI informed the court that “it has progressed substantially”.
The market regulator further said that in one matter, an interim report had been prepared on the basis of the materials available and that it had sought information from agencies and regulators in foreign jurisdictions, etc. and upon receipt of such information, it would evaluate the same to determine further course of action, if any.
The case was then scheduled to be listed on August 29, 2023, but as of November 2023, it has not yet been listed for hearing.
The post Adani-Hindenburg Matter: Plea in Supreme Court for contempt action against SEBI for not completing probe appeared first on India Legal.