SEBI still has three months to complete the investigation into the Hindenburg case
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today gave the capital markets regulator SEBI three more months to complete its investigation into the Hindenburg case. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked for an additional six months, which the Supreme Court rejected today.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud told the SEBI to submit a status report of its investigation by August 14, after which the court will decide whether to give the regulator more time, as requested by her lawyer Tushar Mehta at today’s hearing.
“We will not grant you an indefinite extension. Let us know if there are any issues. We could have given you until September 30, but tell us what stage the investigation is at. Please update us on the status of the investigation,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
The next hearing is on July 11.
On March 2, the Supreme Court ordered SEBI to investigate all violations before and after the Hindenburg Report on the Adani Group within two months. On April 29, three days before SEBI’s deadline, the regulator asked for another six months. SEBI’s attorney said the case involves cross-border jurisdictions, which will take some time to process.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said the report of a panel of Supreme Court-appointed group of domain experts to look into India’s regulatory mechanism to protect investors, who has already submitted its report, will continue to assist the court and share the report with the parties involved in this case and their lawyers.
At the final hearing on May 12, the Supreme Court rejected the request of the petitioner’s lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, to ask SEBI what it has found in its investigation so far.
“It is not a criminal matter that the diary of the case should be searched,” Chief Justice Chandrachud had said.
The members of the Supreme Court-appointed expert group investigating India’s regulatory mechanism to protect investors are Retired Supreme Court Judge AM Sapre, Retired Bombay High Court Judge, Judge JP Devadhar, Former Chairman from the State Bank of India OP Bhatt, former ICICI Bank chief KV Kamath, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and securities and regulatory expert Somasekhar Sundaresan.