Last month, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had reserved its order on a batch of pleas last month. Investors were relieved as the apex court said one does not have to treat what was set out in the Hindenburg report as a “true state of affairs”.
“We don’t have to treat what is set out in the Hindenburg report as ipso facto (automatically) a true state of affairs. That is why we directed the SEBI to investigate. Because for us to accept something which is in the report of an entity, which is not before us and whose veracity we have no means of testing, would really be unfair,” the bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, had said.
Following the comments, Adani bulls heaved a sigh of relief. In the last one month, Adani Green Energy shares are up 56%, Adani Total Gas 43%, Adani Ports 30% and Adani Enterprises 24%.
The stocks are, however, yet to recover from the shock. On January 24, the US-based short-seller had released an 108-page report, which not only led to a crash in Adani stocks and also had a spillover effect on other stocks but also became a political issue, had called Adani’s rise to the riches as the “largest con in corporate history”. It had also made serious claims around stock manipulation and accounting fraud schemes by the self-made billionaire over the course of decades.
While acting on PILs made in the aftermath of the Hindenburg report, the apex court had formed a six-member panel headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice AM Sapre that filed a report in May saying it cannot conclude whether there was any regulatory failure on the part of Sebi.
The report submitted by the six-member committee stated that it was not possible to conclude regulatory failure on the part of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in the stock price manipulation case.The apex court had later asked the capital market regulator to submit its investigation report on the allegations made against the group. In August, SEBI submitted its report to the Supreme Court.
The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.