The Supreme Court-appointed expert committee in the Adani-Hindenburg case advocates for Adani’s exoneration and finds no regulatory failure by SEBI. The SC-appointed committee’s report itself exposes the limitations it faced.
The investigations by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) into transactions by Adani Group entities have been marred by controversy, raising questions about its ability to handle the high-stakes probe with transparency and efficiency. The Supreme Court of India stipulated a deadline of 2 May 2023 for SEBI to conclude its investigation. However, in May, in response to applications by SEBI, the court extended that deadline to 14 August 2023. SEBI’s floundering has brought the regulator under increased scrutiny.
The fugitive billionaire Jatin Mehta has long evaded the grasp of Indian authorities, despite having been declared a wilful defaulter by a number of Indian banks. Is his connection to the Adani family responsible for the government slow-walking its efforts to repatriate and prosecute him? In 2018, the Congress party had alleged that the Narendra Modi government had turned a blind eye to Jatin Mehta’s alleged misdemeanours, allowing him to leave India and delaying the filing of cases against him.
In an interview with The Probe, Amardeep Sharma, the owner of the Cayman Islands-registered Almas Global Opportunity Fund (AGOF), claimed that the entity was eligible to bid for the government-owned helicopter service provider Pawan Hans Limited. He also asserted that the fund had no connection to Kudakwashe Reginald Tagwirei – a controversial businessman from Zimbabwe who has been sanctioned by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.
