Huge relief for Adani, SC refuses to order SIT probe into Adani-Hindenburg controversy

Today (January 03, 2024), in a huge relief for the Adani group, the Supreme Court (SC) of India refused to order a probe by a SIT (Special Investigation Team) into the Adani-Hindenburg controversy regarding stock price manipulations by the Adani group of companies. The bench hearing the matter said that the OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) report cannot be the basis to doubt SEBI’s investigation into the Hindenburg case. The SC bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra, and Justice J.B. Pardiwala said that they did not find any appropriate reason for transferring the probe to SIT. 

While delivering the judgment, the CJI referred to the OOCRP report and said “The reliance on the OCCRP report is rejected and the reliance on a third-party organization report without any verification cannot be used as proof. There are no grounds to transfer the probe in this case from SEBI.” The SC said, “Reliance on newspaper reports and third-party organizations to question the statutory regulator does not inspire confidence. They can be treated as inputs but not conclusive evidence to doubt SEBI’s probe.” It added, “Before concluding, public interest jurisprudence was developed to provide access to ordinary citizens… petitions that lack adequate research and rely on unsubstantiated reports cannot be accepted.”

Earlier, Adani had termed the report by short-seller Hindenburg Research as a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive.” On November 24, 2023, the SC reserved the judgment which was pronounced today. After the judgment was pronounced, Gautam Adani (Founder and Chairman of Adani group) shared a thankful post on X (earlier known as Twitter) stating:

“The Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgment shows that:

Truth has prevailed. 

Satyameva Jayate.

I am grateful to those who stood by us.

Our humble contribution to India’s growth story will continue.

Jai Hind.”

After the SC pronounced the judgment and disposed of petitions filed on the Adani-Hindenburg issue, the shares of Adani Group companies soared up to 11%.