Supreme Court Rejects Plea To Gag Media From Reporting On Adani-Hindenburg

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea to stop the media from reporting on the Adani-Hindenburg issue till the court delivers its verdict on the committee.

“We are not going to issue any injunction ever against the media”, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud told the petitioner, advocate ML Sharma.

The lawyer had sought a gag order to prevent media from carrying statements or allegations related to the Adani group firms unless they are filed with and verified by market regulator SEBI.

He also prayed for the prosecution of short seller Nathan Anderson of US-based firm Hindenburg Research and his associates in India and the US, for its report alleging fraud on the part of the conglomerate, as a result of which the Adani Group suffered losses crossing $100 billion. He also accused it of exploiting innocent investors.

While rejecting the Centre’s offer to provide the names in a sealed cover, the CJI also said that the court would shortly pass the orders on constituting an expert committee to review the regulatory mechanism in India to protect the investors. “We will select the experts and maintain full transparency. If we take names from the government, it would amount to a government-constituted committee. There has to be full (public) confidence in the committee,” he said.