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TMC MP on SEBI seeking more time for Adani probe: ‘While they see violations…’
SEBI has moved the Supreme Court seeking a six-month extension to complete its probe into the allegations against the embattled Adani group.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Saturday hit out at market regulator SEBI after it asked the Supreme Court for a six-month extension to complete its probe into possible lapses in securities market laws and regulatory disclosures by billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani group. Calling SEBI's request a joke, Mahua Moitra alleged the regulator wants an extension to “protect their favourite businessman so that he can get maximum time to cover up.”
The apex court had on March 2 asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India to probe the matter within two months and also set up a six-member expert panel to look into the protection of Indian investors after a damaging report by US short seller Hindenburg Research wiped out more than USD 140 billion of the Adani Group's market value.
In its application, the regulator said it needed more time "to conduct a proper investigation and arrive at verified findings". SEBI said that further investigations are necessary in cases where preliminary findings point to violations of securities laws.
“This is a joke. @SEBI_India has been investigating since October 2021 when they replied to my letter of July. While they prima facie see violations (no surprise)-they want 6 months to protect their favorite businessman so that he can get maximum time to cover up,” the TMC leader said in a tweet.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, meanwhile, repeated the opposition's demand for a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC), saying the expert committee “cannot (and will not want to) investigate the entire political science and business practices of the Group.”
“Hope this request by SEBI is not an effort to bury the scam or drag it out in the hope that the furore will die down," he said in a tweet.
“The SEBI Chairperson told the Committee that the Adani matter is the elephant in the room. Surely then it deserves to be treated with greater urgency given the free run this particular 'haathi mere saathi' has had in all these years of Mitr Kaal,” the Congress general secretary, in charge of communications, added.
SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch had refused to offer any comment on the Adani issue during her media appearance late March as the matter was sub-judice.
"Elephant in the room is Adani, we don't comment on subjudice matters," she told reporters.
