Adani-Hindenburg case: Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking review of its Jan 3 verdict

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking a review of its January 3 verdict, which refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra dismissed the review plea filed by one of the PIL petitioners, Anamika Jaiswal.

The Supreme Court on January 3 had declined to order a CBI or SIT probe. The apex court stated that market regulator SEBI was conducting a comprehensive investigation into the allegations and its conduct inspires confidence. The review petition had claimed there were mistakes and errors in the judgment, and in light of certain new material received by the counsel for the petitioner, there were sufficient reasons for a review of the verdict.

“Having perused the review petition, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. The review petition is, therefore, dismissed,” the bench said in its order of May 5.

The review petition was considered by the judges in the chamber. 

The Supreme Court noted that the SEBI completed its investigation in 22 out of the 24 cases involving allegations against the Adani Group. The plea had stated that SEBI, in its report, only informed the court about the status of the investigations but did not disclose findings or details of any actions taken.

“There are apparent errors on the face of the impugned order dated January 3, 2024, wherein this court rejected the petitioner’s prayer to constitute a court-monitored SIT into the massive fraud involving market manipulation through offshore entities owned by promoters of Adani Group. Hence, the impugned judgment is liable to be reviewed,” the plea had said.

Earlier, the Supreme Court’s verdict came on a batch of petitions regarding allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group, following a report by Hindenburg Research. The Adani Group stocks faced significant losses after Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation.

The Adani Group denied the allegations, stating that it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.