Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 10: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been asked to suggest possible measures that can be taken to protect Indian investors in the future by the Supreme Court on Friday.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that Indian investors have suffered losses totaling several lakh crores as a result of the decline in share prices of Adani Group companies after the publication of the Hindenburg research report.
“It is said total loss by Indian investors is several lakh crores….How do we ensure they are protected.. it is said 10 lakh crores. How do we ensure that this does not happen in future. What role should be envisaged for SEBI in future,” the CJI remarked.
The bench ordered SEBI to file a response by next Monday detailing how a more robust mechanism can be put in place.
“The response can contain existing regulatory framework, the relevant causal factors, the need for putting into place robust mechanism to protect investors. If the union is ready to accept the suggestion, the necessary recommendation of the committee may be made. A brief note on legal and factual matrix may be filed by the Solicitor General (SG) by next Monday,” the Court ordered.
Two public interest litigation (PIL) petitions were being heard in this matter by the Bench. One was filed by attorney Manohar Lal Sharma asking the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Union Home Ministry to direct an investigation and file a First Information Report (FIR) against Nathan Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg Research, and his associates in India for their recent report on the Adani Group.
The second was submitted by attorney Vishal Tiwari, who asked for a commission lead by a retired judge from the highest court to conduct an investigation of the Hindenburg report.
Sharma said in his plea that Anderson and his Indian friends plotted a criminal conspiracy by shorting Adani stocks for hundreds of billions of dollars before “concocting” their research paper to cause the stock market to crash.
He also sought recovery of Anderson’s alleged turnover with penalty to compensate investors in the interest of justice.
