’Can’t leave things hanging…’: Oppn flays Modi govt over Hindenburg’s salvo against SEBI chairperson, Adani

Hindenburg-Adani case: The Congress has said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government must act immediately to remove all conflicts of interest in the SEBI probe into the Adani Group and reiterated its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter. This comes after Hindenburg Research launched a broadside against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband on Sunday.

US-based short-selling firm Hindenburg Research has alleged in its latest research report that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had “interests in shady offshore funds” used in the Adani money-siphoning scandal.

In a blog post, Hindenburg said that 18 months after its damning report on Adani, “SEBI has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani’s alleged undisclosed network of shell entities in Mauritius and abroad.”

SEBI Chairperson Buch and her husband have denied the allegations against them as baseless and said their finances are an open book.

In January 2023, Hindenburg Research published a report accusing the Adani Group of engaging in market irregularities and stock market manipulation. The report sparked a huge controversy and scrutiny. In response, the Adani Group and Gautam Adani repeatedly and vehemently denied these allegations.

Hindenburg-Adani case: How did the opposition react?

Jairam Ramesh denounces SEBI’s reluctance to investigate Adani mega scam

Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s general secretary in charge of communications, said SEBI’s “reluctance to investigate the Adani scam” has been noted for some time, particularly by the Supreme Court’s Expert Committee.

Jairam Ramesh said the Committee observed that SEBI diluted the reporting requirements for ultimate beneficial ownership of foreign funds in 2018 and removed them completely in 2019.

Ramesh said Saturday’s revelations from Hindenburg Research show that Buch and her husband invested in the same offshore funds based in Bermuda and Mauritius in which “Vinod Adani and his close associates Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shahban Ahli invested funds obtained from overcharging of electrical equipment.”

“It is shocking that Buch has a financial stake in these very funds. This raises fresh questions about the two meetings that Gautam Adani held in 2022 in quick succession with Ms Buch soon after she became the SEBI Chairperson. Recall that SEBI was reportedly investigating Adani’s transactions at that time,” Ramesh added.

We can’t leave these things hanging: Shashi Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has demanded a probe into Hindenburg Research’s latest allegation against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch.

Talking with YEARSThe MP said: “These are serious matters. I don’t know the details… Any allegations of this kind must be satisfactorily answered or investigated. We cannot leave these things hanging there and casting a cloud over the integrity of our system. It is important that the accused persons give a satisfactory explanation or that there is an investigation.”

The modus operandi became more sinister: Priyanka Chaturvedi

On Sunday, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi expressed frustration with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for not responding to her letter seeking information on the probe into the allegations against Hindenburg. Chaturvedi had sought details on the investigation into the financial practices of the Adani Group as early as April last year, and hinted that SEBI’s silence on the matter was revealing.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) MP wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The revelations by @HindenburgRes show the extent of support extended to PawPaw’s favourite industrial friend, that even institutions like SEBI were diluted by appointing allegedly compromised persons. The circle of quid pro quo is getting wider and the modus operandi more sinister.”

SEBI is also involved in Adani scam: AAP

AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta added to the criticism against the Modi government and the Adani Group, alleging a merger in the ‘money siphoning scandal’ and said, “(Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal has always said that people holding high positions are together and hence there is corruption in the country. This Hindenburg report has revealed that SEBI is also involved in this Adani scam.”

(None of the allegations made by Hindenburg against the SEBI chairman and the Adani group could be independently verified by Mint.)