Soon after the conclusion of the Parliament monsoon session, the Hindenburg claims that the cited whistleblower document accused the Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval of holding stakes in obscure offshore funds igniting a political storm.
It alleged that a substantial amount of money was invested by the associates of Vinod Adani, the brother of Adani Group’s Gautam Adani. It alleged that these funds were used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.
Hindenburg also claimed that the market regulator has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani’s alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities.
However, Buch and her husband called the allegations “baseless” and said the US short seller’s claims are devoid of any truth, adding that all disclosures have already been furnished to the Sebi over the years. They asserted that their life and finances are an open book.
They said it is unfortunate that the US short seller is opting for character assassination after Sebi issued a show cause notice against the company.
Adani Group also slammed the allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research as “malicious, mischievous and manipulative” selections of publicly available information. It said the allegations are “no more than red herrings” thrown by a desperate entity that flouts Indian laws.
Rejecting the claims, the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate called the allegations as a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated. It said the allegations were proven baseless and pointed out that the Supreme Court dismissed the claims in January 2024.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh demanded an inquiry into SEBI and its chairman’s links to the Adanis. He questioned the adjournment of the Parliament session on August 9 afternoon as it was scheduled to continue till August 12 evening. “Now we know why.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said now it is clear why Sebi did not answer or acknowledge her letters seeking details of Adani Group, adding that the question is who will probe the allegations.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra slammed both Adani and Buch, saying, “Crony Capitalism at its finest.” She tagged the official accounts of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, asking whether they will register cases under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “In true Adani style – even the SEBI Chairman is an investor in his group,” she added in the post.
