The Adani Group on Sunday dismissed the latest allegations by US short-seller Hindenburg Research as “malicious and manipulative”, asserting that the claims are based on selective public information. The company asserted that it has no commercial relationship with SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch or her husband Dhaval Buch.
In a statement, the Adani Group said, “The latest allegations by Hindenburg are malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information to arrive at pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law. We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless and already dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in January 2024.”
“It is reiterated that our overseas holding structure is fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents. Furthermore, Anil Ahuja was a nominee director of 3i investment fund in Adani Power (2007- 2008) and, later, a director of Adani Enterprises until 2017,” the statement added.
“The Adani Group has absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing. We remain steadfastly committed to transparency and compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements. For a discredited short-seller under the scanner for several violations of Indian securities laws, Hindenburg’s allegations are no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws,” a spokesperson for the Adani Group said.
Hindenburg Research on Saturday claimed that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, invested in offshore entities allegedly linked to a fund managed by India Infoline, in which Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, also had stakes. According to Hindenburg, these investments were made in 2015, prior to Madhabi Buch’s appointment as a SEBI member in 2017 and her subsequent elevation to chairperson in March 2022.
In response to the allegations, Madhabi and Dhaval Buch issued a joint statement denying the claims. They described the allegations as “baseless” and “devoid of any truth.” The Buchs said that their financial affairs are “an open book”.
“It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research against whom SEBI has taken an enforcement action and issued a show cause notice has chosen to attempt character assassination in response to the same,” they said.