NEW DELHI:
India’s top court on Thursday appointed an expert committee to examine the changes required in the regulatory framework in the wake of allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani group.
The committee will be headed by former SC judge Justice AS Sapre, with former judges OP Bhat, and JP Devdatt also being part of the court-appointed six-member committee to probe the allegations surrounding the Gujarat-based conglomerate.
The top court also directed the Centre, financial statutory bodies and the SEBI chairperson to render all cooperation to the court-appointed panel. However, it also stated that the formation of the committee does not reflect the work of the SEBI and other agencies.
The apex court also asked the panel to probe and submit its report within two months. The committee will make an overall assessment of the situation and will suggest measures to make investors aware of the situation surrounding the allegations.
The court’s order came in pleas preferred by Advocates ML Sharma, Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and activist Mukesh Kumar seeking a court-monitored probe into the Adani Hindenburg issue.
On February 17, SC while refusing to accept SEBIs “sealed cover” suggestion regarding the names of experts in the committee had said that it would constitute the same by doing its own research for maintaining fullest transparency for the protection of investors.
The bench had remarked that it could not start with the presumption of a “regulatory failure” while it reserved orders with regard to the composition of the expert committee. Furthermore, the bench had said that it would not set up a committee under a sitting SC judge but said that it would set up a committee headed by a retired SC judge.
