Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Monday asked all parties in the Adani-Hindenburg case to file final submissions by Wednesday. The CJI was responding to senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who mentioned the Adani-Hindenburg matter.
Bhushan said that the matter has been repeatedly deferred and that the petitioners have been trying to get it listed. Prashant Bhushan, who appeared on behalf of one of the petitioners in the case, said that the matter was listed for hearing on August 28 but is being deferred repeatedly and not getting listed.
The Solicitor General said that the government will have to file a two-page note in the matter. A bench headed by CJI Chandrachud said that it will ask the registrar to check it and asked the lawyer to mention it again tomorrow and he will look into it.
Earlier, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) filed a status report vis-a-vis the investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg case. The Sebi said at the time that 22 out of its 24 investigations are final in nature whereas 2 are interim in nature.
The investigation was carried out in compliance with the directions of the apex court's order in March this year. In March this year, the top court had also set up a panel to look at providing protection to investors after a report by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research dented Adani Group's market value.
The committee, headed by former top court Justice AM Sapre, consisted of 6 members. The committee comprised the likes of former bankers OP Bhat and KV Kamath, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, advocate Somasekharan Sundaresan and retired judge JP Devadhar as members of the committee.
The top court also asked Sebi to investigate violations of securities law by the Adani Group in the wake of the Hindenburg report. The Supreme Court had also asked the capital markets regulator to file a status report in the case within two months.
The Supreme Court was hearing a bunch of petitions related to the Hindenburg report which sought the constitution of a committee related to regulatory mechanisms to protect investors' interests.
In May this year, the Supreme Court gave three months more to the Sebi to conduct a probe into the Hindenburg report. In its January 2023 report, Hindenburg alleged stock manipulation and fraud on part of the Adani Group.
The Adani Group attacked Hindenburg as "an unethical short seller" and said that the report by the US-based short-seller was "nothing but a lie".
(With ANI inputs)
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