Adani-Hindenburg row: SEBI's inability to reach final conclusion 'deeply worrying', says Congress
New Delhi, Aug 26: The Congress on Saturday said stock market regulator SEBI's inability to reach a conclusive finding on the allegations of round-tripping and money laundering by the Adani Group was "deeply worrying".
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has admitted this in its status report to the Supreme Court and added only a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) can examine how the government flouted norms and procedures to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "favourite business group".
"The inability of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to reach a conclusive finding on allegations of round-tripping and money laundering by the Adani Group, as it has admitted in its 25th August 2023 status report to the Supreme Court, is deeply troubling," Ramesh said in a statement.
Sharing the statement on 'X', he posted, "SEBI's inability to reach a final conclusion in the matter of round-tripping and money-laundering allegations against the Adani Group is deeply worrying."
The Congress leader said that of the 24 matters SEBI investigated relating to the matter, two still have interim status.
Ramesh said one of the interim reports relates to the important question of whether Adani violated the Minimum Public Shareholding requirement under Rule 19A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules.
"In simple terms, did Adani use opaque entities based in overseas tax havens to engage in the kind of round-tripping and money laundering that the PM has always claimed to oppose? SEBI has stated that the reason for delay is that information from external agencies and entities is still awaited," he added.
The country, Ramesh said, is clearly paying a heavy price for the SEBI's decision in 2018 to dilute and in 2019 to delete the reporting requirements relating to the ultimate beneficial ownership of foreign funds.
The Congress leader noted no less than the Supreme Court's Expert Committee pointed out that the reason the SEBI has failed to identify beneficial ownership of overseas investors in Adani companies was that "the securities market regulator suspects wrongdoing" but is "drawing a blank worldwide" due to its "piquant" decision to remove these stipulations.
"The reintroduction of strict reporting rules following the SEBI board's 28 June 2023 meeting represents a public admission of guilt by the regulatory body, even though the horse has bolted the stable," Ramesh claimed.
"Final reports on these critical questions are awaited. Will the SEBI do its fiduciary duty and identify the source of the Rs 20,000 crore of benami overseas funds that have flowed into the Adani Group?" he asked.
The Congress leader said only a JPC can examine how the Modi government "flouted rules, norms and procedures to help the PM's favourite business group..."
The SEBI on Friday informed the apex court that it has completed the probe in all but two allegations against the Adani Group and is still awaiting information from five tax havens on actual owners behind foreign investors investing in the conglomerate.
The US short-seller Hindenburg Research, in a report released on January 24, alleged accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and improper use of tax havens by the Adani Group, triggering a stock market rout.
The Adani Group has denied all allegations by Hindenburg.
अडानी ग्रुप पर लगे राउंड-ट्रिपिंग और मनी-लॉन्ड्रिंग के आरोपों के मामले में किसी अंतिम निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचने में SEBI की अक्षमता बेहद चिंताजनक है।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 26, 2023
25 अगस्त 2023 को सुप्रीम कोर्ट में दाख़िल SEBI की स्टेटस रिपोर्ट पर हमारा बयान।
SEBI's inability to reach a final conclusion in the… pic.twitter.com/0FQS0mhPnR
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
