No conclusion of wrongdoing in SEBI plea to SC: Adani

New Delhi, April 30

Capital markets regulator SEBI has not concluded any wrongdoing in its application to the Supreme Court, seeking six more months to complete a probe into allegations against the Adani Group, the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani said.

The Supreme Court had on March 2 asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to conclude within two months its probe into allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group.

SEBI was to file a status report on May 2, but on Saturday it made an application seeking extension. Hindenburg in January accused the Adani Group of accounting fraud and using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate revenue and stock prices, even as debt piled up.

The conglomerate has repeatedly denied all the allegations. SEBI in its application filed on Saturday stated that it needed six months to “arrive at conclusive finding in case of those where prima facie violations have been found and to revalidate the analysis and arrive at conclusive finding where prima facie violations have not been found”. Investigation relating to 12 suspicious transactions, revealed that these “are complex and have many sub-transactions and a rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data/information from various sources along with detailed analysis, including the verification of submissions made by the companies,” SEBI said in the application.

“It is pertinent to note that in the SEBI application filed before the Supreme Court, there are no conclusions of any alleged wrongdoing,” Adani Group said in a statement. “The SEBI application only cites the allegations made in the short-seller’s report, which are still under investigation,” it said.

The statement further read, “We have welcomed the investigation, which represents a fair opportunity for everyone to be heard and for all issues to be addressed. We are fully compliant with all laws, rules and regulations and are confident that truth will prevail…”