Supreme Court to hear plea seeking probe into Hindenburg Research report

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• Feb 9, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Adani-Hindenburg row: Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who has filed the petition, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Thursday...

Digital Desk: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition seeking an order to the Centre to form a committee supervised by a retired apex court judge to inquire about and investigate the Hindenburg Research report, which made a series of claims against the business conglomerate run by industrialist Gautam Adani.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who filed the case, requested an urgent hearing before a bench chaired by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Thursday. Tiwari told the bench, which also included Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, that a separate plea on the issue had been scheduled for hearing on February 10.

"A similar petition is coming up tomorrow," he said, adding, "This applies to the Hindenburg Research report, which has tarnished the reputation of the country and caused loss." He urged the bench to hear both his plea and the separate plea on Friday. "I'm right. Tag it," CJI stated.

In his public interest litigation (PIL) Tiwari has also demanded that a special committee be formed to oversee the sanction policy for loans of more than Rs 500 crore provided to large corporations. Last Monday, attorney M L Sharma filed another PIL in the Supreme Court demanding the prosecution of short seller Nathan Anderson of the US-based firm Hindenburg Research and his colleagues in India and the US for allegedly abusing innocent investors and causing the "artificial crashing" of Adani Group's stock value in the market.

Adani Group shares have plummeted on the bourses after Hindenburg Research levelled a slew of claims against the corporate giant, including illegal transactions and share-price manipulation. The Adani Group has denied the allegations, claiming that it complies with all regulations and disclosure obligations.

Tiwari stated in his petition that the petition illustrates the "drastic condition and fate of people" when share prices decline in the securities market for a variety of reasons. "Lots of people, who had their whole life-saving in such stocks, get a maximum setback due to fall in such shares with a huge amount of money going into the drain," the PIL submitted.

"In the aftermath of Hindenburg's unprecedented attack on billionaire Gautam Adani's massive company, the market value of all 10 Adani stocks has halved, leaving investors with a colossal loss...," the plea filed by Tiwari submitted. It claimed that despite a "huge attack" on the country's economy, officials had taken no tangible action to address the matter.

"It is ultimately public money for which the respondents (Centre and others) are accountable, and there must be strict concern for reducing such loans with a defined process and sanction criteria for such high stake loan amount," it said. The Centre and others, including the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India, have been named as respondents in the petition.