No conclusion of wrongdoing in SEBI move to SC: Adani

Press Trust of India

New Delhi: Capital markets regulator SEBI has not concluded any wrongdoing in its application to the country's top court, seeking six more months to complete a probe into allegations against Adani Group, the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani said.

The Supreme Court had on March 2 asked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to conclude within two months its probe into allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research against Adani Group. SEBI was to file a status report on May 2 but on Saturday it made an application seeking extension. Hindenburg in January accused Adani Group of accounting fraud and using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate revenue and stock prices, even as debt piled up.

The conglomerate has repeatedly denied all the allegations. SEBI in its application filed on Saturday stated that it needs six months to "arrive at conclusive finding" in case of those where "prima facie violations have been found" and "to revalidate the analysis and arrive at conclusive finding" where "prima facie violations have not been found."

Investigation/examination relating to 12 suspicious transactions, reveals that these "are complex and have many sub-transactions and a rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data/information from various sources along with detailed analysis including verification of submissions made by the companies," SEBI said in the application.

"It is pertinent to note that in the SEBI application filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, there are no conclusions of any alleged wrongdoing," Adani Group said in a statement. "The SEBI application only cites the allegations made in the shortseller's report, which are still under investigation." The delay in the SEBI probe met with skepticism in some quarters.

"This is a joke. @SEBI_India has been investigating since October 2021 when they replied to my letter of July. While they prima facie see violations (no surprise)- they want 6 months to protect their favorite businessman so that he can get maximum time to cover up," TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted. Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena UBT hoped the SC would ensure that the SEBI investigation does not come in a sealed cover.

"The public deserves to know the truth, hopefully CJI (chief justice of India) will truly end the sealed cover based judgements for the sake of transparency." Quoting a news report of SEBI red flagging "12 suspicious transactions and possible stock price manipulations "and " possible case of insider trading," she said.