Plea in Supreme Court seeks reconstitution of panel probing Adani-Hindenburg case
One of the petitioners in the Adani-Hindenburg case has filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking reconstitution of the expert panel investigating the alleged regulatory failure and breach of law by the Adani conglomerate. The petitioner also alleges conflict of interest among the panel members.
The six-member panel, headed by a retired apex court judge, was constituted by the Supreme Court in March 2023 to expedite the investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg case. The Supreme Court also directed SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to submit its report on offshore opaque funding by the Adani group to the six-member panel.
The panel submitted its report in May 2023, and said that the allegations of stock price manipulation or violation of MPS norms by Adani Group companies could not be proved “at that stage.”
Anamika Jaiswal, who filed the application before the Supreme Court on Monday, alleged that the inclusion of OP Bhatt (former State Bank of India chairman), KV Kamath (veteran banker), and senior advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan in the expert panel is not advisable, given their possible conflict of interest in the outcome of the probe into the allegations by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.
According to the application, OP Bhatt currently serves as the chairman of Greenko, a leading renewable energy company, which has been working closely with the Adani group since March 2022.
“It has also come to the knowledge of the petitioner that Bhatt was examined by the CBI in March 2018 in a case of alleged wrongdoing in disbursing loans to the former liquor baron and fugitive economic offender, Vijay Mallya. Mallya is accused of defrauding banks, including SBI, of US $1.2 billion. It is submitted that Bhatt served as the SBI chairman between 2006 and 2011 when the majority of these loans were advanced to Mallya’s companies,” contended Jaiswal, adding Bhatt should have informed the top court of these relevant facts by himself. Jaiswal is represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan in the matter.
Jaiswal also cited Kamath, who was the chairman of ICICI Bank from 1996 to 2009, figured in CBI FIR in the ICICI Bank fraud case, in which the bank’s former CEO Chanda Kocchar has been named as a prime accused.
“The CBI alleged that she (Kochhar) and her family received various kickbacks over her tenure in lieu of loans provided to the Videocon group, many of which turned into non-performing assets (NPAs).
Kamath was the non-executive chairman of the bank when some of those loans were approved and a member of the committee that sanctioned/approved the loans,” the application said. According to the application, Senior advocate Sundresan has been a lawyer representing the Adani group before various bodies, including the Sebi Board.
“In light of above, there is an apprehension that the present expert committee would fail to inspire confidence among the people of the country. It is therefore respectfully prayed, a fresh expert committee may be constituted by this Hon’ble Court with experts from the field of finance, law and stock market with impeccable integrity, and who have no conflict of interest in the outcome of the instant matter,” prayed Jaiswal’s application.
The panel, set up by the court through its order on March 2, is headed by former Supreme Court judge AM Sapre, and also comprises justice JP Devdhar (former high court judge) and Nandan Nilekani (Infosys co-founder).
US Hindenburg”s report published in January 2023 alleging “brazen accounting fraud” and “stock manipulation” had rattled Gautam Adani-led group. However, the conglomerate refuted the allegation as “unresearched” and “maliciously mischievous”. However due to the accusations, Adani Group stocks faced a massive setback losing over $140 billion market capitalization. The group was also compelled to cancel Adani Enterprise”s 20,000 crore offer for sale (OFS).
