The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea to review its January 3 verdict, in which it refused to transfer inquiries into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a SIT, or special investigation team, or the Central Bureau of Investigation. In a terse three-line ruling the top court said it had “perused” the review petition but found “no error apparent on the face of the record”.
It was junked by a three-member bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and including Justice SB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. “The Review Petition is, therefore, dismissed,” the bench said.
The petition had been dismissed May 8. The plea to review was considered in-chambers.
The review plea was filed by Anamika Jaiswal, one of the PIL, or public interest litigation, petitioners.
The plea had claimed “mistakes and errors” in the judgment and, in light of certain new material received by the counsel for the petitioner, there were sufficient reasons for a review of the verdict.
The plea also said market regulator SEBI, or Securities and Exchange Board of India, had only updated the court about the status of the 24 investigations it undertook following the allegations – i.e., said whether it was completed or not – but did not disclose any findings or details of action taken.
READ | Court Backs Clean Chit For Adani Group In Hindenburg Case
Back in January, in a big win for the Adani Group, the top court said a report by OCCRP – an organisation funded by billionaire George Soros, among others – could not be the basis for doubting an inquiry by market regulator SEBI, or Securities Exchange Board of India, into the Hindenburg case.
Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices Pardiwala and Misra had said there were no grounds to transfer the probe to SIT. The judgment reflected what the court told lawyer Prashant Bhushan in November 24 – that the allegations and OCCRP report could not be treated as gospel.
The Adani Group called the report a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive”. The conglomerate also called it a “selective and manipulative presentation of matters already in public domain”.
“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on a specific company but a calculated attack on India… the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.”
READ | “Truth Has Prevailed”: Gautam Adani On Hindenburg Case Verdict
Chairman Gautam Adani welcomed the verdict as the victory of truth. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Adani said he was “grateful to those who stood by us”.
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