Adani row: SC refuses to accept in sealed cover suggestion

The Supreme Court on Friday 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. Observing that it wants to maintain full transparency in the interests of investors, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said it would rather not accept the Centre’s suggestion in a sealed cover. ”We will not accept the sealed cover suggestion by you because we want to maintain full transparency,” the bench said. On February 10, the top court had said the interests of Indian investors need 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. Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the 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.