In a scathing critique, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani accused US short-seller Hindenburg Research of attempting to destabilize India's stock markets by targeting SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch instead of responding to a notice from the market regulator.
Jethmalani took to social media platform X to express his disapproval, stating, "Hindenburg's 'Something big' is a pathetic damp squib. The announcement prior to its alleged big revelation itself reveals its motive: to destabilise India's stock markets." He further dismissed the new allegations against the Adani Group as rehashed accusations with no substantive basis.
The BJP MP highlighted that SEBI had issued a notice to Hindenburg, seeking information regarding the circumstances of the Adani short sale, to which Hindenburg responded by attacking SEBI's Chairperson on the grounds of a purported conflict of interest. Jethmalani described these accusations as "prima facie rubbish" and urged the government to address what he termed as attempts to undermine India's economic sovereignty.
Jethmalani's comments follow the Adani Group's outright rejection of the latest allegations by Hindenburg, which the conglomerate described as "malicious, mischievous, and manipulative selections of publicly available information."
In a filing dated August 11, the Adani Group asserted, "We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless and already dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in January 2024."
The controversy escalated when Hindenburg published allegations that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had undisclosed stakes in offshore entities allegedly connected to the Adani Group. Both Madhabi Buch and her husband swiftly denied the claims, accusing Hindenburg of "character assassination" in response to SEBI's enforcement actions against the firm.
In a joint statement, the Buchs stated, "Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years... It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research... has chosen to attempt character assassination."
This incident is the latest development in an ongoing saga between Hindenburg Research and the Adani Group, which began in January 2023 when Hindenburg accused the conglomerate of financial irregularities, leading to a significant drop in Adani's stock price. Despite the turmoil, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed several pleas seeking further investigations into the matter, directing SEBI to complete its probe into two pending cases by early 2024.
