New Delhi (19.05.2023): Water has been poured on the much hyped Adani-Hindenburg saga, which was being investigated by a committee constituted by the Supreme Court, when it said that there has not been a regulatory failure on the part of SEBI on the allegation of price manipulation.

The panel is of the view that taking into account the explanations provided by SEBI, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation.

The SEBI has identified 13 specific transactions where it is investigating the underlying transactions regardless of whether they are legally considered 'related party transactions' from the standpoint of assessing if they were fraudulent in nature. The SC-appointed panel, headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre stressed that while SEBI is actively collecting data on these transactions, it has to complete the investigations in a time-bound manner. No pattern of artificial trading or wash trades among the same parties multiple times was found and no coherent pattern of abusive trading came to light.

SEBI found that there were some entities who took short positions before Hindenburg published its report and profited by squaring off their positions once the prices crashed. The committee said that the market has re-priced and re-assessed the Adani stocks. While they may not have returned to the pre-January 24 levels, they are stable at the newly re-priced level.

The SC granted SEBI time till August 14 to complete its probe. Adani Group stocks had taken a beating on Dalal Street after the US-based short-seller alleged a host of fraudulent transactions by the conglomerate, including share-price manipulation. The Adani Group has consistently dismissed charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.