US-based short seller Hindenburg Research has come under fire from senior Supreme Court advocate and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani for its latest allegations against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. Jethmalani criticized Hindenburg for targeting India and its top public servant from the safety of America, relying on unverified third-party reports.
Jethmalani accused Hindenburg of being part of a conspiracy to damage India’s stock market, stating that their research is based solely on information from other organizations, the veracity of which is questionable. He emphasized that Hindenburg has chosen to attack the SEBI Chairperson instead of responding to a show cause notice issued by the market regulator.
The BJP MP suggested that Hindenburg’s failure to respond to SEBI’s notice indicates a lack of substantial evidence to support their claims. He noted that the short seller’s latest report merely rehashes old allegations from their first report on the Adani Group, with the addition of personal attacks on the SEBI Chairperson.
Addressing Hindenburg’s allegations of a conflict of interest involving Madhabi Puri Buch, Jethmalani dismissed these claims as baseless. He advised the SEBI chief to file both criminal and civil defamation cases against Hindenburg in India. Furthermore, he called for a deeper probe by SEBI into the matter, highlighting the significant losses suffered by retail investors due to what he described as a concerted attempt to undermine India’s stock market and budget.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, Jethmalani further criticized Hindenburg’s tactics, describing their latest announcement as a “pathetic damp squib” designed to destabilize India’s stock markets. He accused the short seller of displaying colonial arrogance and contempt for India’s economic sovereignty.
The senior advocate also took aim at left-leaning media outlets, accusing them of calling for Buch’s resignation without proper consideration. He urged the Indian government to take serious action against those he termed “anti-nationals” who seek to disrupt India’s social fabric, distort its politics, and damage its economy.
Jethmalani reiterated his earlier claims of a potential Chinese connection to the Hindenburg report, suggesting that the attack on the Adani Group could be retaliation for losing out on infrastructure projects like the Haifa Port.
In response to Hindenburg’s latest allegations, the Adani Group has categorically rejected them, describing them as “malicious, mischievous, and manipulative selections of publicly available information.” The group stated that these claims are a recycling of discredited allegations that have been thoroughly investigated and dismissed by the Supreme Court in January 2024.
The ongoing controversy stems from Hindenburg’s initial report in January 2023, which accused the Adani Group of financial irregularities. This led to a significant drop in the group’s stock prices, although Adani firmly denied these claims.
It’s worth noting that the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the Adani Group. In January 2024, the apex court refused to transfer the probe into Hindenburg’s allegations to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and instead directed SEBI to complete its investigation into two pending cases within three months. Additionally, in June 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking to review its earlier verdict in the Adani-Hindenburg case.
