Exotic Ecom LLP

Hindenburg revelations raise questions — Sebi must answer

This report by Hindenburg Research comes almost 18 months after it had first kicked up a political storm in January 2023, alleging the Adani Group of “brazen stock market manipulation” and “accounting fraud”. The port-to-energy conglomerate had denied all these allegations; the Supreme Court had rejected the demand for a CBI or court-monitored probe.

IN WHAT RAISES questions of conflict of interest related to the market regulator, the US-based Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that “it suspects SEBI’s unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s complicity in using the same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani.”

Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch said in a statement that they strongly denied the “baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report”. “The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book,” they said in a joint statement.

On Sunday morning, the Adani Group also rubbished the claims, calling it “malicious and manipulative”.

When it had first accused the Adani group of stock manipulation, the company had witnessed a massive fall in market cap and share prices of its listed companies following Hindenburg’s allegations in January 2023. It also resulted in the Group calling off AEL’s fully subscribed Rs 20,000 crore FPO.

In July this year, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition seeking a review of its January 3, 2024, ruling which rejected demands for a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation or a Special Investigation Team into allegations raised against the Adani Group companies by the firm in a report.