Hours after US-based Hindenburg Research raised questions of conflict of interest alleging that SEBI was unwilling to take action against the Adani Group as its chairperson Madhabi Buch had stake in the company’s offshore entities, the conglomerate rubbished the claims calling it “malicious, mischievous and manipulative”. In an exchange filing, the Adani Group said: “The latest allegations by Hindenburg are malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information to arrive at pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law. We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless and already dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in January 2024.” “It is reiterated that our overseas holding structure is fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents. Furthermore, Anil Ahuja was a nominee director of 3i investment fund in Adani Power (2007-2008) and, later, a director of Adani Enterprises until 2017,” the statement added. Calling the allegations as “red herrings thrown by a desperate entity”, the company said: “The Adani Group has absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing.” Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch, too, have denied the “baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report”. “The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book,” they said in a joint statement. The Adani-Hindenburg saga This report by Hindenburg Research comes almost 18 months after it had first kicked up a political storm in January 2023, alleging the Adani Group of “brazen stock market manipulation” and “accounting fraud”. The port-to-energy conglomerate had denied all these allegations; the Supreme Court had rejected the demand for a CBI or court-monitored probe. Continuing with the saga and quoting “whistleblower documents”, Hindenburg Research has now claimed that the Sebi chairperson “had stake in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.” To date, SEBI has taken no action against other suspect Adani shareholders operated by India Infoline: EM Resurgent Fund and Emerging India Focus Funds, it alleged. In July 2024, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea seeking to review its January 3, 2024, verdict that had sought investigation by the market watchdog SEBI in the Adani-Hindenburg case. Rejecting the demand for a court-monitored investigation or one by the CBI, the Supreme Court said the market regulator was carrying out a “comprehensive investigation” into the allegations and that a Sebi probe into the matter “inspires confidence”. Welcoming the SC order in January, Gautam Adani had said: “Truth has prevailed…our humble contribution to India’s growth story will continue.”
