Adani-Hindenburg PILs: Supreme Court Directs To Release Expert Committee Report To Counsel

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the report submitted by the expert committee looking into investors' losses after Hindenburg Research's allegations against Adani Group be made available to the counsel involved in the matter.

The top court, which gave the market regulator SEBI time till Aug. 14 to submit an update on its investigation, said the committee should continue to assist the court and may hold further deliberations in the meantime.

The copies of the committee's report shall be made available to the parties and their counsel so that they can assist the court in the matter as well, the court said.

After Hindenburg Research's report and Adani Group's counter in January, four public interest petitions were filed before the apex court. The PILs had broadly asked for directions regarding allegations against the Adani Group.

On March 2, the Supreme Court directed SEBI to investigate whether there had been any disclosure failures and if there had been any manipulation of Adani stock prices in contravention of existing laws.

While the regulator asked to submit its report within two months, on April 29, SEBI asked for six months to conclude its investigation.

The Supreme Court also set up the expert committee headed by Justice (retired) Abhay Manohar Sapre. Other members of the committee included OP Bhat, KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani, Somashekhar Sundaresan, and retired Justice JP Devadhar.

The committee was directed to provide an overall assessment of the situation, including the causal factors that had led to volatility in the securities market in the recent past.

It was also asked to suggest measures to strengthen investor awareness, investigate whether there has been regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of securities laws in the matter, and suggest measures to strengthen the statutory and regulatory framework for the protection of the investors.

The committee submitted its report last week.