The Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a landmark verdict in the Adani - Hindenburg case, triggering sharp criticism on social media against the Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi.
Observing that an inquiry cannot be ordered on an international report, the Supreme Court also said that there is no need to set up an SIT to probe the matter. Not only this, the court also said that the power to directly intervene in the SEBI investigation is also limited. Gautam Adani tweeted, “Satyamev Jayate” and welcomed the court’s decision.
Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 9.4 per cent to Rs 3,199.45 crore on Wednesday, taking the total market capitalisation to Rs 3.65 lakh crore. A total of 24 cases related to the Adani-Hindenburg case were registered with SEBI, out of which 22 cases were investigated by SEBI and the court has given three more months to SEBI to investigate the remaining two cases.
Now, the verdict raises a lot of questions. Was the Hindenburg report false? This is the first question because the court itself has said that the court cannot order an investigation on the international report. So how do we know whether the report which cannot be investigated is true or false? Because after the court’s verdict, naturally, the Congress has had to clarify its position. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that after this verdict, the party’s fight will continue. And in a two-page letter, he wrote about how SEBI turned a blind eye to the entire matter, citing the OCCRP report and a newspaper report after the Hindenburg report.
According to Ramesh, the OCCRP on August 31, 2023 revealed the true ownership of two of the 13 benami shell companies which were not disclosed in SEBI’s year-long probe. The OCCRP claims that Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahly hold 8 to 14 per cent benami shares in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Power and Adani Transmission.
It is also likely that Congress’ allegations will not be considered after the Supreme Court’s decision. In fact, Adani group shares fell soon after the Hindenburg report came out. Congress has since raised the issue. Photos of Adani with top leaders were also circulated on social media. Wherever Rahul Gandhi went, he was asking the same question: Whom does the benami Rs 20,000 crore in Adani’s shell companies belong to? Disclose their names, etc. Ramesh says that even after the court’s verdict, Congress will continue to ask this question. Basically, the Hindenburg report came out in January 2023, where Hindenburg had submitted a report on all of Gautam Adani’s companies. This report explained how benami investments are made in Adani Group companies and how honest investors have been affected. Since then, all Adani group shares have fallen sharply and their assets have also suffered major losses. The matter later reached the Supreme Court.
A committee was also constituted to oversee SEBI’s investigation on the orders of the Supreme Court. In the first report of the committee itself, SEBI was doing its job properly. It was also predicted in what direction the investigation would go. But, now the Supreme Court has said that an inquiry cannot be ordered on an international report. So no matter what the Congress thinks, the curtains have already fallen on the matter.
Billionaire Gautam Adani is the son of a small Gujarati small trader. Adani came to Mumbai in his early twenties to try his luck and within two or three years, he settled in Zaveri Bazaar. For the first 2-3 years, while he was working as a diamond collector, he started his own diamond brokerage company. And interestingly, within the first three years, he was counted among the millionaires in the trade.
In 2015, his Adani Power company bought the Udupi Thermal Power Plant for Rs 6,300 crore and from there on Adani became an industrialist. At present, Adani Ports is the largest private port management company in the country. Founded in 1996, Adani Power is the country's largest private power producer. Since 1991, Gautam Adani has built a $78 billion empire. However, one thing is to be noted, and especially the reason why the Congress is alleging that the Adani Group has flourished in the industry in the period of the past 10 years.
He was a first-rate entrepreneur. But since 2012, shares of his companies have risen northwards in a straight line. They have increased by 400%. Adani's proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been repeatedly discussed by the Congress and other opposition parties, alleging the friendship has helped in achievement of projects that are important at national level. So even if the court's decision comes as a relief to Adani, it remains to be seen whether the Congress will continue its fight against it or sheath the sword.