New Delhi : On February 15, the Supreme Court granted permission to hear a fresh plea made by a Congress leader seeking an investigation into the Adani Group of companies. The investigation is to be supervised by a sitting judge of the apex court, in light of allegations made by Hindenburg Research, a US-based firm. The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, took note of the submissions made by the Congress leader’s lawyer, who stated that the plea required urgent attention. Initially, the bench had agreed to list the public interest litigation (PIL) for a hearing on February 24. However, after the lawyer pointed out that two other PILs were scheduled to be heard on February 17, the bench decided to hear the case on Friday, February 17.

Apart from seeking an investigation into the Adani Group, the Congress leader, Jaya Thakur, has also sought directions to investigate the role of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the State Bank of India (SBI) in investing substantial amounts of public funds in Adani Enterprises. On February 14, the central government had agreed to the apex court’s proposal to form a panel of experts to review and strengthen the regulatory mechanisms of the stock market, following the recent decline in the shares of Adani Group due to allegations of fraud by Hindenburg Research.

Currently, the top court is handling two petitions alleging exploitation of innocent investors and the deliberate reduction of the Adani Group’s stock value.