The Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, has expressed reservations about the reliance on media reports by the petitioners in the Adani-Hindenburg case.
The Supreme Court noted that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cannot be expected to base its findings on newspaper reports. The Chief Justice also voiced dissatisfaction with the use of information from reports by organizations such as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Hindenburg Research by the petitioners.
The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, brought new facts regarding the OCCRP report to the Supreme Court's attention. According to Mehta, when SEBI contacted OCCRP seeking details and documents regarding the allegations against the Adani Group, OCCRP did not share the details and directed SEBI to obtain the information from an NGO in India, which had provided it with the information. Mehta mentioned that the NGO is run by Prashant Bhushan.
Mehta also informed the Court that investigations into 22 out of the 24 cases related to the allegations against the Adani Group were complete, and for the remaining two, information from foreign regulators and other sources was needed.
The Adani Group had earlier rejected OCCRP's allegations, calling them a concerted effort by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the Hindenburg report.
The Adani Group stated that the claims were based on closed cases from a decade ago and had already been ruled in its favor by an independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal.
(With Agency Inputs)
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