Supreme Court sets up expert panel to probe Adani issue

Tags: committee National National News

The Supreme Court on March 2 constituted an expert panel to probe the regulatory failure on the Adani issue.

An overview of the news

• The expert committee’s members are - former SBI chairman O P Bhatt, Justice J P Devadhar (retired), veteran banker K.V. Kamath, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan. 

• The committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge A M Sapre.

• The Supreme Court has asked the committee to submit its report to the court in a sealed cover within two months.

• Panel will investigate any regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged breaking of rules by the Adani Group of companies.

• The mandate of the committee will be to suggest measures to strengthen the framework, investigate the Adani dispute and suggest measures to strengthen the legal framework.

• The Supreme Court also directed SEBI to ensure that all information is made available to the committee.

Adani-Hindenburg issue

• In late January, Hindenburg published a report critical of the finances of the Adani group.

• It said the major listed companies of the group had "substantial debt" which has put the entire group in a "precarious financial position".

• Hindenburg accused the Adani-led group of "stock manipulation and accounting fraud over the course of decades".

• Seven listed firms of the Adani group lost nearly half their market value (over USD 100 billion) following the report.

• The combined market value of the listed Adani firms is now at US$108 billion, up from US$218 billion before the Hindenburg report.