New Delhi (Agency): The Supreme Court has put the Adani-Hindenburg dispute hearing on hold, seeking the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) comments on proposals presented by a court-sanctioned expert committee. The apex court’s decision took place on Tuesday, marking a pause in the heated conflict.
The court’s directive was communicated after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing SEBI, confirmed that they had submitted a “constructive response” the day before, addressing the propositions outlined in the committee’s document.
Presiding over the case, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, joined by Justices P.S. Narasimha and Manoj Misra, enquired about the status of the investigation. Mehta responded that SEBI had been granted until August 14 by the Supreme Court to conclude the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. He emphasized that their response pertained solely to the committee’s recommendations, with no ties to the allegations in question.
However, the bench indicated that they hadn’t received SEBI’s response yet, suggesting its distribution alongside other relevant case documents. The court also relayed its intention to resume the matter after wrapping up proceedings on other pleas scheduled for hearing by a constitution bench.
The expert committee’s report, which sparked SEBI’s response, offered several recommendations. Among them was the development of an effective enforcement policy for optimal utilization of regulatory resources and establishing criteria for SEBI to initiate actions.
In its counter-response, the market regulator stressed that its enforcement manual, applicable to all quasi-judicial and enforcement proceedings, had already outlined objective criteria for initiating suitable enforcement actions for different securities market violations. It also noted a significant increase in proceedings initiated by SEBI in 2021-22, attributing it to a surge in adjudication proceedings on Illiquid Stock Options (ISO) matters.
SEBI further argued that, given the potential damage to investors, securities law violations required swift action. On the committee’s suggestion to limit human discretion in surveillance actions, SEBI responded that its current practices were largely data-driven and machine-readable.
Meanwhile, Vishal Tiwari, the PIL petitioner-in-person, contested that the expert committee’s report didn’t provide a “clearcut finding.”
This dispute was born out of allegations from Hindenburg Research about Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s engagement in price manipulation and non-disclosure of transactions with related parties, erasing over $100 billion from his empire.