Doing away with its much-criticised practice of encouraging sealed cover submissions, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to accept names of experts suggested in a closed envelope by the Central government for a committee to set up for protecting investors from major market fluctuations.
Headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, a bench also turned down names suggested by the petitioners who seek an investigation into a damning report by US-based Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group and its aftermath.
The court said it will pick up soon pass an order for setting up an expert committee headed by a retired apex court judge for an in-depth investigation into all aspects of the report and its dramatic effects on Adani Group shares.
The bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, said that it will soon pass orders constituting the committee for an expeditious probe into the Hindenburg-Adani issue. It will also see if any plugs need to be pulled in India’s existing regulatory framework meant to protect investors from market volatilities like that caused by the report.
The committee would be empowered to seek the assistance of investigating agencies and regulatory bodies to fulfil its mandate, the bench said.
While turning down Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s submission in a sealed cover, the Supreme Court said that it wanted to maintain “full transparency” and asserted it will appoint its own committee to promote a sense of confidence in the process.
“We will select the experts and maintain full transparency. If we take names from the government, it would amount to a government-constituted committee. There has to be full (public) confidence in the committee”, observed CJI Chandrachud.
On Monday, Solicitor General Mehta – who is representing the Central government – agreed to the court’s suggestion to constitute an expert panel, even as he stressed that SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and other agencies are “fully equipped” to tackle such situations.
In late January, New York-based short seller Hindenburg accused the Adani Group of “pulling the largest con in corporate history” by manipulating stock prices and brazen accounting fraud.
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate has denied all accusations, calling it a “calculated attack on India”, and later announced sue the activist firm.
The report, which led to a free fall in the stocks of the Adani Group of companies and wiped out half of its chairman Gautam Adani’s wealth, also gave the opposition a chance to attack the BJP-led central government.