New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) time till August 14 to complete its probe into allegations of rigging in share prices by the Gautam Adani-led group. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ordered Sebi to file an updated status report on its probe into allegations of rigging share prices by the Gautam Adani-led group.
This bench of the Supreme Court also includes Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Pardiwala. The bench ordered that the report of the Justice AM Sapre committee in the Adani matter be shared with all the parties so that they can assist the court in the matter. This report has been submitted to the court recently. The Supreme Court, on March 2, had ordered the formation of a six-member committee to probe allegations of rigging in share prices by the Gautam Adani-led group.
The allegations against the business group were made by American short-seller company Hindenburg in its report. The Supreme Court will further hear the Adani Hindenburg dispute case on July 11. The bench said, “The time given to submit its report to SEBI is extended till August 14, 2023. The SAPRE panel was tasked with making a complete assessment of the situation, including the underlying causes of the recent volatility in the securities market.
The court said the panel was asked to suggest measures to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework and comply with the existing mechanism to protect investors. The market regulator had sought an extension of six months in the time given to complete the probe into allegations of manipulation of share prices by the Adani Group. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for SEBI, told the bench that the request for an extension of time till August should be reconsidered by the bench.
The CJI said, “You tell us what you have done because we have already given you two months’ time. Then We gave you three months more time, which together you got five months. You are asking for six months. We have already given you five months’ time. Justice Chandrachud told Mehta, “We are not giving an indefinite extension in time. If there’s a real problem, you tell us.
Mehta requested whether the time to complete the probe could be extended till the end of September. To this, the CJI said, “Mr. Solicitor, we have two options. We could have given you time till 30th September right now. Or you can file an affidavit by August 15 and tell me what is the situation. We have not looked into each issue, but we have asked that you provide us with an updated status report on the investigation.
Sebi had told the Supreme Court on May 15 that it has not been probing the Adani group since 2016 and termed such claims as “factually baseless”. It said that in its earlier affidavit, the investigation related to “Global Depository Receipts (GDRs)” was issued to 51 Indian companies, and none of the Adani Group’s listed companies was mentioned in it.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners in the matter, opposed the appeal for an extension of time saying that such an investigation in the matter is being conducted by SEBI since 2016. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Anamika Jaiswal, said that SEBI should tell the court what investigation it has done since 2016 on complaints of shell companies registered in Mauritius.
The bench told Bhushan that asking him to disclose at this juncture would affect the investigation and it was not a criminal investigation which it was going through the case diary. At the same time, the bench had said that the court will not give indefinite time to SEBI and it will give three months to complete the investigation.
The bench noted that the court’s registry has received the report of the apex court-appointed Justice (retd) A M Sapre committee on the issue, but it could not go through it due to work pressure. The bench said that after going through the facts of the committee, it would like to hear the matter on Monday. The bench said, “In the meanwhile we have to look into the report. We will hear about the matter on May 15.
