Supreme Court on Adani fiasco: Nandan Nilekani, KV Kamath part of six member committee; check details

The Supreme Court (SC) has set up a six-member committee on the issue arising from the report published by the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research on the Adani Group companies.

The committee will be headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre. OP Bhatt, Justice JP Devadhar, KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani, Somasekhar Sundaresan, are the other members of the committee.

Meet the six-members that will head the committee--

1. Justice AM Sapre

Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, who will head the six-member committee, has practised civil, constitutional and labour law in the Madhya Pradesh High Court for about 20 years. He had earlier served as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and as the first Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.

He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1999. On October 24, 2001 he was appointed as a permanent Judge. On February 11, 2010, he assumed charge at the Rajasthan High Court’s Principal Seat in Jodhpur.

2. OP Bhatt

Former chairman of State Bank of India, Om Prakash Bhatt is an independent director on the boards of a variety of multinationals, including Hindustan Unilever Limited, Tata Steel Limited, Tata Motors Limited and the non-executive Chairman of Greenko Energy Holdings, Mauritius, and Aadhar Housing Finance Limited. He was also Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association.

3.  Justice JP Devadhar

Justice JP Devadhar, who is also a part of the six-member Committee, was the Chairperson of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) from July 2013- July 2018. He started practice of law at Bombay High Court in 1977. Since then, he began practicing at High Court in Constitutional Law and other branches of Civil Law and particularly Cooperative Societies Act, Service Law, Rent Act, Customs Act, Excise Act and Direct Tax Laws such as Income Tax, Wealth Tax and Gift Tax.

4. KV Kamath

KV Kamath is an Indian banker who started his career with Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI; later named ICICI Bank).

Kamath held various coveted positions, including chief of the New Development Bank of BRICS countries, chairman of Infosys, among others. He has also been associated with names like Schlumberger and Lupin.

5. Nandan Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited. He was the Founding Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in the rank of a Cabinet Minister from 2009-2014.

Nilekani has co-founded and is the Chairman of EkStep, a not-for-profit effort to create a learner centric, technology-based platform to improve basic literacy and numeracy for millions of children. In January 2023, he was appointed as the co- chair of the “G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial Inclusion and Development”.

6. Somasekhar Sundaresan

Sundaresan, who worked as a journalist initially, has served several committees set up by the Union government, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to review and recommend changes to the country’s legal and regulatory system. 

As a lawyer, Sundaresan specialises in regulatory and compliance issues, particularly in the areas of securities law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.

Also Read: 'Truth will prevail': Gautam Adani says Adani Group welcomes Supreme Court's probe order

Also Read: Adani-Hindenburg case: SC tells Sebi to finish probe, submit report within two months

Also Read: SC verdict on Adani-Hindenburg row: Adani group m-cap up Rs 23,400 crore, Adani Enterprises shares rally 14%

Watch | Gautam Adani-Hindenburg row: Meet Supreme Court’s probe panel; KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani and others