The court directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete its probe in three months and file a status report on its probe against the group, whose shares were hit in January by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. fell after.
In a petition filed on April 29, Sebi had sought another six months to complete its probe following a court order on March 2, which had asked the regulator to submit a report by May 2.
Hindenburg Research had raised several governance concerns around the Adani group, which has eroded over $100 billion in market capitalization of the group companies founded by billionaire Gautam Adani.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court had asked SEBI to investigate some of the allegations and submit a report to a court-appointed panel.
Requesting additional time to complete its probe, the regulator had said that time is required to sort out complex transactions involving listed, unlisted and offshore entities of the group.
The regulator told the top court that listed companies of the Adani group were already under probe for violation of public float norms since October 2020. Under Indian securities laws, each listed company must have 25% of the public float. Adani group companies are being investigated for violation of this law.
The Supreme Court directed the market regulator to place on record its findings so far in connection with the probe into the violations of the public float by the Adani Group.
Sebi in its previous filing with the apex court had said that it has formed a preliminary view on the allegations and governance concerns raised by Hindenburg Research in its January report, but did not disclose its view.
(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi, Jayshree Upadhyay in Mumbai; Editing by Varun HK and Muralikumar Anantharaman)