The Supreme Court proposed on Friday the formation of a panel of experts, including a judge, to investigate the fallout from the Adani Group’s fraud allegations, which have wiped out crores of investor wealth and sparked fierce opposition attacks on the government.
Hearing a petition seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention in the dispute, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud stated, “Do we intervene and have a mechanism in place to prevent this from happening again? We are not interested in discussing policy. That is the responsibility of the government.”
“If the Government of India is interested in this exercise, we have suggested an expert committee for the overall situation and examination,” he said, requesting the inclusion of a judge and domain experts.
The Chief Justice asked for “a brief note on the factual and regulatory situation” and stated, “We have indicated to the Solicitor General, the concern about the regulatory process and [to see that] Indian investors are protected over the incident in the last two weeks.”
“According to the Solicitor General, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) is keeping a close eye on things. We are not criticizing any regulatory framework. We’re talking about it right now “According to Justice Chandrachud.
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, told the court that he would return on Monday with a proposal after consulting with the SEBI, the finance ministry, and other ministries. “From a regulatory standpoint, the SEBI is looking into the issue,” he said.
The ports-to-energy Adani Group, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, has lost more than $100 billion in market value since a January 24 report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation.
Adani has denied the allegations, describing them as a “maliciously mischievous” reputational attack. Because of the sharp sell-off, the group’s flagship entity, Adani Enterprises, canceled its secondary share offering, India’s largest ever.
