India SC clears Adani from more probes in Hindenburg saga

India's Supreme Court today declined to order a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the allegations levelled in the Hindenburg report against Gautam Adani's business conglomerate of stock price manipulations.

An apex court bench headed by chief justice DY Chandrachud said there was no ground to doubt the investigation being carried out by the stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) into the issue, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The apex court also said the facts of the case do not warrant the transfer of the probe to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or other probe agency.

The court refused to accept the reliance placed by the petitioners on newspaper reports and the report of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project to doubt the SEBI probe.

Relying on newspaper reports and third-party organisations to question the statutory regulator does not inspire confidence. They can be treated as inputs but not conclusive evidence to doubt SEBI probe, the top court opined.

Public interest jurisprudence was developed to provide access to ordinary citizens, and petitions which lack adequate research and rely on unsubstantiated reports cannot be accepted, it said.

The court directed the SEBI to complete its probe into two pending cases relating to allegations against the Adani Group within three months.

Saying it cannot regulate SEBI's power of investigation, the bench noted that the stock market regulator has completed its probe in 22 out of 24 cases relating to allegations against the Adani group.

The top court delivered its verdict on a batch of petitions on the Adani-Hindenburg row over allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian corporate giant.

The judgment on the PILs, filed by lawyers Vishal Tiwari, ML Sharma, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and Anamika Jaiswal, was reserved on November 24 last year.

The Adani Group stocks had suffered a huge blow after US-based Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including those about fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate. The Adani Group dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Reacting to the Supreme Court observations today, Adani said, "Truth has prevailed and his group would continue to contribute to India's growth story."

"The Supreme Court's judgement shows that: Truth has prevailed. Satyameva Jayate," Adani said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "I am grateful to those who stood by us."

The Hindenburg report had set off a major political storm last year with the opposition attacking the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.