Jairam Ramesh asks why SEBI probe into Adani group violations languishing

The Congress on Sunday, said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) investigation into "the Adani Group's brazen attempt" to bypass regulations is still languishing and the capital markets regulator has a lot to explain.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh's remarks blaming SEBI came after a media report which claimed that two Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who were mentioned in the January 2023 report on the Adani Group by short-seller Hindenburg Research, have petitioned the Securities Appellate Tribunal, seeking urgent relief from complying with SEBI's new foreign investor norms.

"Two Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), a part of the revelations in the still-unfolding Modani mega scam, have now petitioned the Securities Appellate Tribunal, seeking urgent relief from complying with SEBI's new foreign investor norms before the upcoming September 9th deadline," Ramesh said.

Both the FPIs are alleged to be violating rules that require investors to not be over-invested in a single stock, he said.

These rules are meant to ensure that black money routed through tax havens does not flood back into Indian capital markets, Ramesh said, adding they must be upheld at all costs.

"These are the very same FPIs who stand accused of participating in the Adani Group's brazen attempt to bypass SEBI's regulations and amass benami stakes in its own companies. These are the very firms that benefitted from SEBI's removal of the requirement to identify the 'ultimate beneficial owner' of offshore funds, a decision that it was forced under public pressure to reverse in June 2023 in a tacit admission of its guilt," the Congress leader said in his post on X.

"The basic fact is that a SEBI investigation into these violations that was supposed to be completed in two months and shared with the Supreme Court is still languishing 18 months later," Ramesh said.

SEBI has a lot to explain, quite apart from the multiple conflicts of interest of its Chairperson that are now unravelling, he said.

Ramesh's remarks come weeks after Hindenburg Research launched a fresh broadside against market regulator SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch, alleging that she and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.

SEBI Chairman Buch and her husband have denied the allegations levelled against them as baseless and asserted that their finances are an open book.

Adani Group had also termed Hindenburg Research's allegations as malicious and manipulative of select public information, saying it has no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or her husband.

The Congress has been alleging financial regularities against the Adani Group and favours being given by the government to the conglomerate to augment its profits.

The opposition party has been persistent on its attack on the government, since Adani Group stocks took a beating on the bourses in the wake of the Hindenburg Research making a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation on the conglomerate headed by industrialist Gautam Adani.

The Adani Group had dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.