Adani Case PIL reaches Supreme Court

The Adani Enterprises case reached the Supreme Court on Friday, with a public interest litigation (PIL) requesting an investigation into the US-based firm Hindenburg Research, whose report caused Adani Group shares to plunge on the stockmarkets.

The PIL was filed by Advocate ML Sharma, who sought an investigation into the short-selling firm and its founder, Nathan Anderson. Sharma demanded legal action against Anderson as well as compensation for those who had invested in Adani Group-owned enterprises.

Sharma in his PIL sought the court’s directions for the registration of a FIR, recovery of the short sellers’ turnover, their prosecution to protect the citizens of India, and further action against them for “duping the Indian share market and innocent investors for their vested interests to provide complete justice.”

Sharma further stated that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the regulatory authority in the stock and commodity markets, is in charge of controlling the share market and suspending trading in equities that have been oversold or shorted.

According to the PIL, the petitioner’s cause for filing the petition arose on January 25, when, despite prior knowledge, the Sebi did not suspend trading in the Adani Group shares, allowing short sellers to artificially crash the share market and square up their short-selling position at the lowest rate by “butchering/exploiting” innocent Indian investors in violation of laws.