The "all clear" to the Adani Group from market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India or SEBI has "massive ramifications, both from a legal perspective and also from a market perspective," Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai told NDTV today in an exclusive interview. He said he would place this "at an even higher pedestal than what the Supreme Court had given to the Adani group some months ago". This, he said, is because SEBI has the tools and expertise "to conduct a very deep inquiry".
Earlier today, SEBI dismissed allegations levelled against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and the group's companies, by US short seller Hindenburg Research. SEBI said there were no violations, all loans were repaid, funds were used for intended purposes and there was no fraud or unfair trade practice. All proceedings against the Adani Group were dropped.
SEBI noted that the transactions took place at a time when such dealings with unrelated parties did not qualify as related party dealings. The definition was changed later.
Read: SEBI Dismisses Hindenburg's Allegations Against Adani Group Companies
"This is possibly the highest, the best quality clean chit that any corporation, body corporate in India can hope for," Mr Dehadrai said.
"After all, it comes from the premier organization that determines issues concerning corporate governance, which is SEBI".
It puts to rest the years of unfounded allegations that Hindenburg had levelled at the Adani group, he said, expressing hope that it is time to zero in on the people behind it.
"Why were these individuals trying to essentially profit off of the misery of Indian investors? Was there a larger motive to destabilize the Indian economy? So these are very important questions," he said.
The SEBI verdict also has massive ramifications, "both from a legal perspective and also from a market perspective," he said, pointing out that in practical terms, it would "impact the entire bouquet of Adani stocks tomorrow".
In a post today, Gautam Adani said the SEBI findings have reinforced that the claims of Hindenburg were "baseless".
In January 2023, Hindenburg Research had alleged the group had used three companies - Adicorp Enterprises, Milestone Tradelinks, and Rehvar Infrastructure - to route money between Adani group firms.
Read: "Hindenburg Claims Were Baseless": Gautam Adani After SEBI Clean Chit
The Adani Group refuted the allegations as "malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information" to arrive at "predetermined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law".
Mr Dehadrai pointed out that short sellers, "no matter which part of the world they operate from, are no good Samaritans". "They are not looking to help investors in India at all. They are only looking to profit," he added.
In January 2024, the Supreme Court had backed the investigation by SEBI and turned down demands that the matter be handed to a Special Investigation Team. In July this year, the top court upheld the Registry's order that refused to admit a petition seeking a direction to SEBI to submit a conclusive report in the Hindenburg case. It also dismissed a petition to review its verdict of January 2024.
