Adani-Hindenburg issue: SC refuses to issue any injunction to media

The Supreme Court on Friday (February 24) rejected a plea seeking to gag the media from reporting on the Adani-Hindenburg issue till the court pronounces its order.

The apex court had reserved its order on February 20 on a batch of PILs on the recent Adani Group shares crash triggered by Hindenburg Research’s fraud allegations.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declined the plea of advocate M L Sharma who mentioned the matter. “We are not going to issue any injunction to the media”, the bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said.

The top court on Monday (February 20) had refused to take on record the suggestion of one of the petitioners and a report published by Forbes in a batch of PILs.

Also read: Yogendra Yadav: Adani-Hindenburg row is a Bofors moment for India

The court on February 17 had refused to accept in a sealed cover the Centre’s suggestion on a proposed panel of experts for strengthening regulatory measures for the stock market.

“We will not accept the sealed-cover suggestion by you because we want to maintain full transparency,” the bench had said.

‘Indian investors need to be protected against market volatility’

On February 10, the Supreme Court had said the interests of Indian investors needed to be protected against market volatility in the backdrop of the Adani Group stock rout, and asked the Centre to consider setting up a panel of domain experts headed by a former judge to look into strengthening the regulatory mechanism.

Till now, four PILs have been filed in the top court on the issue by lawyers M L Sharma and Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur, and activist Mukesh Kumar.

Also read: Adani-Hindenburg row: Centre agrees to SC proposal for experts panel to tighten regulation

Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation, against the business conglomerate.

The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

(With agency inputs)