KEY POINTS
- The verdict has rejected the Hindenburg Report, which wiped out investors’ wealth worth $140 billion
- After the Hindenburg report, Adani Group’s listed companies lost over INR12 trillion in a month.
- Adani stocks rallied up to 10% after the verdict
India’s top court on Wednesday rejected pleas to set up a new panel to probe allegations of fraud made against the Adani group by short seller Hindenburg Research.
The Supreme Court ruled out the possibility of the case being transferred to a special investigating team.
Hindenburg had last January alleged that the Adani group of companies manipulated their share prices using a web of companies listed in tax havens. Adani’s listed companies lost over $144 billion in a month after the report.
India’s markets Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is probing insider trading charges from that time.
“The facts of this case do not warrant a transfer of investigation from Sebi,” The Supreme Court ruled, adding it will only exercise in extraordinary circumstances its power to transfer the investigation to the CBI, India’s equivalent of the FBI.
The three-judge bench, helmed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud unequivocally said there was no ground to doubt the investigation by the market regulator.
The government should look into the factors that lead to a knee-jerk reaction in the market, the court said.
The verdict came as a boost to Adani stocks, with stocks of its group companies rallying up to 10%. The rally helped the group to cross a market capitalization of over 15 trillion Indian rupees.
Gautam Adani is the world’s 16th richest individual globally with a fortune worth over $70 billion, according to Forbes.
