Hindenburg Research, a US-based firm, has accused Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and her husband Dhaval Buch of having connections with the Adani Group. They claim this relationship creates a conflict of interest, which may have affected the thoroughness of Sebi's investigation into allegations of fraud and manipulation involving the Adani Group.
Sebi is currently investigating Hindenburg's claims against the Adani Group, which include accusations of share price manipulation and accounting fraud. Last year, Sebi informed a panel appointed by the Supreme Court that it was looking into 13 unclear offshore entities that owned significant shares in Adani's publicly traded companies. The Supreme Court recently dismissed a request for a court-monitored investigation into Hindenburg's claims, stating that there had been no regulatory failure on Sebi's part.
While Sebi has issued show-cause notices to Adani's flagship companies earlier this year, the final report on the investigation is still pending and was due to the Supreme Court in April. Last month, Sebi also issued a show-cause notice to Hindenburg, accusing the firm of profiting "unfairly" through "collusion," and using "non-public" and "misleading" information to create panic selling in Adani Group stocks.
