Adani-Hindenburg Case: Petitioner Calls for New Expert Committee Citing Alleged Conflicts of Interest
In the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg case, the petitioner has approached the Supreme Court with a fresh affidavit, urging the reconstitution of the expert committee due to alleged conflicts of interest among its members.
The Supreme Court had earlier formed an expert committee in March, headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice A. M. Sapre. This committee was tasked with investigating potential regulatory failures that might have led to investor losses after Hindenburg Research’s report indicated fraud and manipulation by the Adani Group. The committee’s members included former bankers K.V. Kamath and O.P. Bhatt, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, securities lawyer Somasekhar Sundaresan, and retired high court judge J.P. Devadhar.
The petitioner, Anamika Jaiswal, in her affidavit, expressed concerns about three of the six committee members, stating they
“fail to inspire confidence among the people of the country”
due to their backgrounds and alleged ties with Adani.
Specifically, the affidavit points out that O.P. Bhatt, former chairman of State Bank of India, is currently the Chairman of Greenko, a renewable energy company. Since March 2022, Greenko and Adani Group have been in “a close partnership” to provide energy to Adani Group’s facilities in India. The affidavit also highlights that Bhatt was examined by the CBI in March 2018 regarding alleged improprieties in loan disbursements to fugitive economic offender, Vijay Mallya. The affidavit states,
“CBI has alleged that the SBI-led consortium of lenders did not conduct any ‘forensic audit’ despite being aware of the ‘poor financial health’ of Mallya’s companies.”
Furthermore, the affidavit raises concerns about K.V. Kamath, who served as the chairman of ICICI Bank from 1996 to 2009. Kamath was mentioned in a CBI FIR related to a fraud case involving Chanda Kocchar, the former CEO of ICICI Bank. The affidavit elaborates,
“The CBI alleged that she and her family received various kickbacks over her tenure in lieu of loans provided to the Videocon group, many of which turned into non-performing assets (NPAs). Kamath was the non-executive chairman of the bank when some of those loans were approved and a member of the committee that sanctioned/approved the loans.”
Lastly, the affidavit reiterates that Somashekhar Sundaresan has represented Adani before various forums, including the SEBI Board.
Given these concerns, the petitioner has called for the dissolution of the current expert committee and the formation of a new one. The affidavit concludes,
“There is an apprehension that the present expert committee would fail to inspire confidence among the people of the country. It is therefore respectfully prayed, a fresh expert committee may be constituted.”
