New Delhi: The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing of the plea filed by capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) seeking a six-month extension to complete the probe on Adani Group. SEBI told the Supreme Court on May 15 that any incorrect or premature conclusion of its investigation into the Adani group's possible lapses of regulatory disclosures will be "legally untenable" and not "serve the ends of justice".
SEBI, in a filing, said it has approached 11 overseas regulators for information relating to whether the Adani group has violated any norms regarding its publicly available shares. Earlier, Securities and Exchange Board of India had asked the apex court for a six-month extension to finish its investigation into allegations levelled by US-based short seller Hindenburg against the conglomerate, noting that Adani Group's complex transactions involving listed, unlisted and offshore entities require deeper investigations.
To ascertain possible violations related to misrepresentation of financials, circumvention of Regulations, and investigate the fraudulent nature of transactions mentioned in the Hindenburg report, it would take in the normal course at least 15 months, said Securities and Exchange Board of India in its application. However, the top court, in verbal arguments, said that it was inclined to give a three-month extension. The verbal arguments do not necessarily match the final court order, which will likely be given on SC's new hearing date. On March 2, the Supreme Court had set up an expert committee on the issue arising from the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group companies.
