Probes into Adani firms nearly over, Sebi tells SC

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it has concluded 22 out of 24 separate investigations into the Adani group, analysed data on nearly 350 million stock trades, and scrutinized dealings in seven Adani group firms involving tens of thousands of documents.

- Anirudh Laskar

The wide-ranging probe was initiated on 2 March following a Supreme Court directive in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) plea over allegations made against the group by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research on 24 January.

Of these, reports on 22 are final and two are interim, Sebi said, and added that all final reports and one interim investigation report have been approved by the competent authority. As for the remaining one report, its interim findings too have been approved by the competent authority.

For the interim investigation reports, Sebi has sought information from external agencies, and once it receives the same, it will evaluate the veracity of the information with the interim investigation report to determine the course of action.

Of the 24 investigations, two pertain to manipulation of stock prices, 13 are on Adani Group’s alleged failure to disclose related party transactions, and eight related to possible violations of Sebi’s foreign portfolio investment rules, substantial share acquisition norms and insider trading regulations.

The market regulator said it has thoroughly analyzed trading patterns to assess possibilities of price manipulation. While doing so, Sebi has also scrutinized trading by three clusters of FPIs.