Plea in SC seeks new panel to probe Adani-Hindenburg case
A fresh plea has reportedly been filed in the Supreme Court (SC), seeking the formation of a new expert committee in the Adani Group-Hindenburg case. The petition requested that people with unblemished integrity and zero conflicts of interest in the matter be included in the panel. The plea alleged a conflict of interest of three members of the existing six-member panel. It was filed by one of the petitioners in the case, Anamika Jaiswal, via her lawyer, Ramesh Kumar Mishra.
Why does this story matter?
It is worth recalling that United States-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged in a report in January that the Adani Group was involved in accounting fraud, stock manipulation, and other misdeeds. While the report triggered a severe setback to the group's future objectives, it also caused the company's shares to plummet sharply. Subsequently, the group's founder and Chairman Gautam Adani refuted all the charges.
Details on 'expert committee' formed to probe Adani-Hindenburg row
To recall, the apex court formed an "expert committee" in March this year to probe allegations leveled against the Adani Group in the Hindenburg report and investigate possible regulatory failures, reported Hindustan Times. Chaired by retired SC judge Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, the panel also included former State Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson OP Bhatt, former high court judge Justice JP Devdhar, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, senior advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan, and veteran banker KV Kamath.
Plea highlights issues concerning expert panel members
Jaiswal's plea questions the involvement of Bhatt, presently the chairman of a renewable energy company named Greenko Group. It claimed that Greenko and Adani Group have been in a close partnership since March last year to provide energy to the latter's facilities in India. The plea also highlighted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s FIR regarding the ICICI Bank-Videocon fraud case, which mentioned Kamath, too. Notably, he served as the ICICI Bank's chairman from 1996 to 2009.
Sundaresan's involvement with Adani Group
Regarding senior advocate Sundaresan, Jaiswal's plea stated that he, as a lawyer, previously represented the Adani group before various forums, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Board. The plea also attached a 2007 order passed by the SEBI Board, which showed that the senior advocate had appeared for the Adani Group.
