Hindenburg’s latest report accused Buch and her husband of investing in offshore funds that were allegedly linked to the Adani funds misappropriation scandal.
“Adani is a close aide to the prime minister.”
Indian National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said following the Hindenburg Research revelations in January 2023, Sebi had exonerated “Adani, a close aide of PM Modi” in the Supreme Court.
However, he pointed out that fresh allegations have emerged relating to “deals” made by the Sebi chief.
“Middle class, small and medium sized investors who invest their hard-earned money in the stock market need to be protected as they place their trust in the securities regulator. An investigation by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is essential to probe this massive scandal,” he said.
“Till then, concerns remain that PM Modi will continue to defend his allies and jeopardise India’s constitutional system that has been painstakingly built over 70 years,” Kharge said in a post on X.
Conspiracies and Deliberate Attacks on the Indian Economy: Rajiv Chandrasekhar
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar responded by dismissing the allegations as part of a “conspiracy” to destabilize India’s financial system and accused the opposition of seeking foreign help to undermine the independent regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (SEBI), and create chaos in the country.
“This is a conspiracy where several forces are conspiring to destabilise the Indian economy and discredit the regulator, stock market and financial system. This cannot be allowed at a time when our country is on the path of expansion and growth. It is a criminal offence to use such insinuations and lies against an independent regulator. None of the contents of the report can be trusted. This is a conspiracy and a deliberate attack on the Indian economy,” Chandrasekhar said.
The party has also questioned why Sebi’s official Twitter account is now locked and inaccessible to the public.
Jairam questions Sevi’s ‘locked’ X accounts
In a post on X, Indian National Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Sebi’s official Twitter account has been “locked” and is not accessible to the public.
“Some reports have suggested it may have been closed for some time but the continued inaccessibility is puzzling at a time when evidence of conflicts of interest by its most senior executives has emerged. The Modani scandal has been brewing for many months now but Sebi’s inaction has repeatedly disappointed,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh expressed concern over why the accounts were locked, saying, “This lack of transparency leads to the question whether the platform was quietly removing past advisories and press releases that could have incriminated the organisation or its leaders in relation to the Modani scam.”
Opposition’s foreign ties create instability for Congress: Sudhanshu Trivedi
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi hinted at the Indian National Congress being behind the Hindenburg report and said such foreign reports would only be released at the start of the Parliamentary session.
Speaking to a news agency, Trivedi said, “For the last few years, foreign reports have been released every time Parliament sits. The BBC documentary was released just before Parliament. The Hindenburg report was released in January just before Parliament sits. There is the report on religious freedom, the report on foreign farmers, Greta Thunberg’s statement etc. All these series of events are happening during Parliament sessions. Today, the fact that the Opposition is moving forward with such reports raises suspicions that the Opposition has some nexus with a foreign country and is creating instability and anarchy during Parliament sessions in India.”
Indian Union allies target ‘Adani Sebi’ nexus, attack BJP govt
Allies in the Indian bloc have also taken note of the “Adani-Sevi” nexus highlighted in the Hindenburg report, with the Trinamool Congress, Ahmed Party and the CPI(M) criticising the BJP-led ruling NDA government for its close ties with industrialist Gautam Adani.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the Modi government is deeply embroiled in corruption and is trying to protect its “friend Adani”.
In a post on X, Singh alleged, “The Hindenburg revelations were hinted at three days before PM Modi prorogued Parliament. The Modi government is corrupt from top to bottom. To protect his friend Adani, PM Modi has entrusted the investigation to the same Chief Justice of India who is allegedly involved in the Adani scam. The Supreme Court should reconsider its decision.”
TMC leader Mahua Moitra also posted on X, “In true Adani style, even the SEBI Chairman is an investor in his group. The height of crony capitalism. @CBIHeadquarters & @Dir_ED, will you file POCA & PMLA cases or not?”
“The latest revelations in the Hindenburg scandal indict the regulator, SEBI, and its chairman himself of being involved in the rigging. The chairman should immediately resign and a joint parliamentary committee should be set up to investigate,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a post on X.
Hindenburg report claims Adani’s regulatory immunity is linked to SEBI chairman
Earlier, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a new assertion on Saturday, alleging, “We had previously noted that Adani is absolutely confident that it will continue to operate without any risk of significant regulatory intervention, and we suggest this may be explained by Adani’s relationship with SEBI Chairman Madhavi Buch.”
The report further alleged that “what we were unaware of was that the current SEBI chairman and her husband Dhaval Bhu had hidden shares in exactly the same unnamed offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds in the same complex nested structure as that used by Vinod Adani.”
Hindenburg Research said the new allegations are based on documents provided by whistleblowers and investigations conducted by other groups.
In January 2023, Hindenburg released a report alleging financial irregularities at Adani Group, causing a significant drop in the company’s share price. Adani Group strongly denied these allegations at the time.
The Hindenburg report accused Adani Group of stock manipulation and fraud, and alleged that the conglomerate had inflated its share prices. After these allegations were made public, the shares of various Adani Group companies plummeted.
In January 2024, the Supreme Court had rejected a request to transfer the investigation into alleged share price manipulation to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and directed markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete its investigation into two pending cases within three months.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had also rejected a plea seeking review of its previous verdict ordering a SEBI probe into the Adani Hindenburg scandal.
Adani Group denies Hindenburg claims
However, the Adani Group has strongly denied Hindenburg Research’s latest allegations, dismissing them as “an act of sabotage by a desperate organisation with complete disregard for Indian law”.