Today, the Supreme Court bench composed an expert committee to review the regulatory mechanism in the context of the Adani-Hindenburg issue. Moreover, the top Court also directed SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to investigate the case in light of allegations against the Adani Group of companies in the Hindenburg Research report. The bench ordered SEBI to complete the investigation within a period of two months and should file a status report for the same before the Supreme Court.
The expert committee will be headed by a former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, as ordered by the bench including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice PS Narasimha. The committee will submit the report within two months before the top Court in a sealed cover. The Committee is responsible to provide an overall assessment of the situation, to suggest measures to increase awareness among investors, to suggest measures to strengthen both regulatory and statutory frameworks, and to investigate whether there is any violation of law in the context of the Adani group and companies.
The members of the committee include Mr. OP Bhat (Director on the board of Tata Steel Ltd, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd, former Chairman of SBI), Justice JP Devadhar (former judge and former presiding officer of the Bombay HC and the Securities Appellate Tribunal respectively), Mr. KV Kamat (former Chairman of Infosys Ltd. and former chief of the New Development Banks of BRICS countries), Advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan (name recommended for elevation as a Bombay HC judge by SC Collegium), and Mr. Nandan Nilekani (co-founder of Infosys and former UIDAI Chairman). The Supreme Court asked the Chairperson of the SEBI to share the information regarding the Adani-Hindenburg case with the expert committee.