Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW DEHLI: The Indian Supreme Court has established an independent panel to investigate fraud claims made against billionaire Gautam Adani’s corporate empire by a US research firm.
In a report published in January, Hindenburg Research accused Adani Group companies of stock manipulation and financial fraud, which caused their shares to drop steeply. The group has refuted the charges.
Opposition leaders, however, demanded a probe into the allegations after the episode ignited a political controversy. The Supreme Court formed a five-member team to look into the claims on Thursday. Abhay M. Sapre, a former judge, will lead the committee and has been requested to deliver its report in two months.
Adani tweeted in response to the judgment that his businesses appreciated the court’s ruling because it will “provide resolution in a time-bound manner.” The truth will win out, he said.
Charges on Adani Group
As Hindenburg Research charged the Adani Group with years of “brazen” stock manipulation and accounting fraud, the three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dr. DY Chadrachud was currently hearing a number of requests for an investigation from attorneys and politicians.
The court stated that it wished to “keep full transparency” in the case when it declined to accept the federal government’s suggestions for experts for the committee during the previous session.
“If we solicit names from the government, it will essentially be a committee created by the government. Thus, we will select the committee’s members on our own,” Judge Chandrachud said.
After the charges that caused a financial collapse in Indian markets, the market value of the Adani Group’s firms has dropped by more than $100 billion (£82 billion) in recent weeks. The organization has denied the accusations, calling them an “attack on India,” and characterized them as inaccurate and vicious. The reaction, however, did not stop the slide in the price of Adani stock.
The conglomerate’s founder, Adani, is no longer among the top ten richest people in the world, after his rank on the Forbes real-time billionaires list slid to 15, with a net worth of $74.7 billion . Last month, he was third on the list.
Adani is perceived as close to PM Narendra Modi and has long faced allegations from opposition parties that he has benefited from his political connections, which he denies.
