The verdict signals there will not be increased regulatory or legal risk on the Adani group beyond the current SEBI investigation.
Reflecting that view, shares of Adani companies were up between 1% and 7% after the ruling.
The court, ruling on cases brought forward by public interest litigants, also said there was no need for it to order any changes in the country’s disclosure rules for offshore funds. Hindenburg had alleged Adani’s offshore shareholders were used to violate certain SEBI rules, even though the company maintained it complies with all laws.
After the Supreme Court ruling, billionaire Adani said on platform X the court’s judgement shows truth has prevailed and the group’s “contribution to India’s growth story will continue.”
“Post this verdict global investors will have more confidence in investing in the shares of the company,” said Deven Choksey, managing director of KRChoksey Shares and Securities Pvt Ltd, a broker.
The regulator had previously informed the Supreme Court that it would take appropriate action based on the outcome of its investigations. The court on Wednesday gave SEBI three months to complete its investigations.
Reuters has previously reported that SEBI had uncovered violations of rules on disclosures by listed entities of Adani group and limits on the holdings of offshore funds. But these violations were ‘technical’ in nature.
Hindenburg had alleged that Adani group’s offshore shareholders were used to violate a SEBI rule requiring 25% of the shares in listed companies to be freely floated.
SEBI recently tightened its disclosure rules to reduce the possibility of offshore funds being used to circumvent public float rules.
The procedure followed in arriving at the current shape of the regulations does not suffer from irregularity or illegality and does not require intervention, the top court said on Wednesday.
Reuters