Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur demanded a probe into the Adani Group
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the petition against the Adani Group, filed by Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur, on 17th February. This is in light of the report released by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleging that the ports-to-power conglomerate has inflated share prices of its companies through manipulations and malpractices.
#BREAKING Supreme Court agrees to hear on February 17 Congress leader Jaya Thakur's petition seeking probe against Adani Group over Hindenburg report.#AdaniGroup #Hindenburg #SupremeCourtOfIndia pic.twitter.com/4Pt4Q1ThAP
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) February 15, 2023
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud heard the case and listed it as urgent. CJI first agreed to list it on February 24. However, the lawyer highlighted that two further related matters are scheduled to be listed on February 17. The CJI subsequently consented to combine the petition with the other two petitions.
Meanwhile, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday that India’s Adani Group has hired US accounting firm Grant Thornton for independent audits of some of its companies to counter assertions made by Hindenburg Research that have damaged its stocks and bonds.
Read more- Amit Shah on Adani: We are not afraid or hiding anything
The appointment marks the Adani Group’s first significant attempt to defend itself after a Hindenburg report, on January 24th, accused the company of improperly using offshore tax havens and stock manipulation.
Investors are still concerned despite the conglomerate’s repeated denials of the accusations. The market value of the seven listed subsidiaries of the group’s shares has dropped by a total of nearly $120 billion during the past three weeks.
Following the Hindenburg report, the Adani Group announced last week that it was considering an independent assessment of its internal controls, related party transactions, and legal compliance-related problems. This was the first reference to Grant Thornton’s appointment.
According to the sources, who declined to be named because the hiring is private, Grant Thornton has been contracted to provide independent audits of various Adani Group companies.
One of the sources also stated that Grant Thornton would investigate the Adani Group’s related-party transactions to see if they conformed to corporate governance guidelines.
On Monday, Adani Group made an effort to reassure investors by promising strong cashflows, fully funded business plans, and the “continued ability of our portfolio to produce better returns to shareholders.”
However, there has been a rise in regulatory pressure. The market watchdog in India declared on Monday that it was looking into the Hindenburg report and the trading before and after it was released.
According to the U.S. short research, both publicly traded and privately held Adani entities, engaged in multiple “undisclosed related party transactions,” which they said violated Indian disclosure regulations.
“All linked party transactions are at arm’s length, appropriately reported, and reviewed/audited by independent statutory auditors,” Adani had claimed in its reply.
The Congress accused that the Adani group was trying to cover itself using the Tricolour and asked why the Narendra Modi government was avoiding ordering a joint parliamentary committee investigation into allegations against the conglomerate, as demanded by the united Opposition, if it had nothing to hide.
Adani attempts to protect himself by wrapping his company with the Tricolor, as described in the popular Hindi song “Badan pe sitare lapete huye.” This won’t be allowed, according to Congress communications director Jairam Ramesh.
According to Ramesh, private investments are essential for maintaining strong growth. We assist our businesses, industries, and entrepreneurs. New jobs must be created through business. We support the liberalization of the economy. However, we are against reckless, blind privatization. We oppose the sale of profitable public assets to crony capitalists.
ये हैं आरबीआई गवर्नर और सेबी अध्यक्ष को लिखे मेरे पत्र जिनमें उम्मीद जताई गई है कि प्रधानमंत्री का आशीर्वाद प्राप्त अडानी समूह के ख़िलाफ़ तमाम आरोपों पर एक संपूर्ण एवम् स्वतंत्र जांच की जाएगी। https://t.co/ccsNY3uMQI
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 15, 2023
Ramesh demanded a fair investigation into the Adani problems in a letter to the governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the head of the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Tuesday in response to pressure from the government. He also said that the Congress would organise media conferences at 30 locations across the nation to inform the public of what had happened.
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