Last updated: Nov 28, 2023 1:35 PM IST
Shares of Adani group rose in morning trades following India’s Supreme Court’s observation that it had no grounds to discredit market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) probe against the group. The apex court reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions related to the Adani-Hindenburg row after the conclusion of hearing on Friday.
The biggest gainer in the pack was Adani Total Gas, which rose almost 20 percent in early trading, followed by Adani Energy Solutions, which rose 13 percent. Nifty stocks Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones also rose 4 percent and 3 percent respectively around this time.
The judgment in the Adani-Hindenburg case has been reserved by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The Supreme Court noted that capital market regulator SEBI must complete investigations in all 24 cases.
The market regulator had filed a crucial status report on its probe into the stock price manipulation allegations by the Adani Group in the Supreme Court on August 25. According to the report, SEBI has completed its investigation in 22 of the 24 cases.
What the Supreme Court said –
- SEBI has to complete investigation in all 24 cases.
- We need not take the Hindenburg Report as a statement of truth. There is no way to test the falsity of the Hindenburg report and therefore SEBI has asked to investigate it.
- There must be some responsibility in making accusations. This related to the petitioners telling the court that Somsekhar Sundaresan, recently appointed Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court, was counsel for the Adani Group. The court further said that by this logic, no lawyer can become a judge
- We have not appointed judges, but industry veterans who bring expertise to tackling this problem.
- Can SEBI be asked to make findings public even before it can initiate regulatory proceedings? How can we pre-assess SEBI’s findings?
- I cannot ask SEBI to take a story in the newspaper, even if it is in the Financial Times, as the gospel truth.