Opposition flays government over Sebi-Adani 'link'

A massive political storm erupted in the wake of US short-seller Hindenburg Research’s latest allegations that the chairperson of India’s stock market regulator Sebi had a stake in obscure offshore entities used in what it alleged was ‘the Adani money siphoning scandal’.

Opposition parties launched a fresh broadside against the government over the allegations, with Congress leading the charge. The party demanded the Centre act immediately to eliminate all conflicts of interest in the regulator's investigation of the Adani Group.

In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that the Sebi's "strange reluctance to investigate the Adani mega scam" has been long noted, not least by the Supreme Court's Expert Committee. The Committee, he said, had noted that SEBI in 2018 diluted and in 2019, entirely deleted the reporting requirements relating to the ultimate beneficial (i.e. actual) ownership of foreign funds.

"This had tied its hands to the extent that 'the securities market regulator suspects wrongdoing, but also finds compliance with various stipulations in attendant regulations... It is this dichotomy that has led to Sebi drawing a blank worldwide'," Ramesh said quoting the Expert Committee.

In another post on X, Ramesh said, "Parliament was notified to sit till the evening of August 12. Suddenly it got adjourned sine die on the afternoon of August 9 itself. Now we know why."

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called for a thorough investigation into allegations made by the Hindenburg report against the Sebi chief and her husband.

Reacting to Hindenburg’s revelation, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, a fierce critic of business tycoon Gautam Adani, tweeted, “In true Adani style - even Sebi chairman is an investor in his group. Crony Capitalism at its finest.” She called on the Supreme Court to revisit its decision limiting the probe into Hindenburg's allegations against Adani Group to Sebi.

Anand Dubey, spokesperson of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, said the Hindenburg Research's report suggests involvement of the Sebi chief in the matter. "Now the question is who will investigate the matter. The way the Parliament session was concluded...there is a sense that something is wrong," Dubey said.

Hindenburg Research, on Saturday, cited whistleblower documents to allege that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, in charge of probing allegations of malfeasance and stock manipulation in the Adani Group of companies, and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning case, raising questions of conflict of interest related to the market regulator.

Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch strongly refuted the “baseless allegations and insinuations” made in the Hindenburg report.