Adani-Hindenburg Row: Meet The 6 On Supreme Court's Expert Panel

Adani group strongly denied the allegation and called Hindenburg's report a "calculated attack"

The Supreme Court today said it will set up a six-member panel to look into regulatory mechanisms to protect investors' interest after a report by a US short seller on the Adani conglomerate led to large investor losses.

The shares of Adani group firms nosedived last month after the short seller Hindenburg Research alleged a massive financial fraud. The Adani group strongly denied the allegation and called Hindenburg's report a "calculated attack" on India, its institutions and growth story.

"The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail," Adani group chief Gautam Adani tweeted today.

Here are details of the six members of the new committee:

1. Former Supreme Court judge Justice AM Sapre, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, was elevated to the Supreme Court in August 2014. He served till August 2019. Justice Sapre, 68, was appointed a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in October 1999. He served there till February 2010. He was then transferred to the Rajasthan High Court, where he remained till March 2013. He was made Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court in March 2013. He remained there till October 2013. Justice Sapre was then appointed Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, where he served till August 2014 before being elevated to the Supreme Court.

2. OP Bhat is a former chairman of State Bank of India. Mr Bhat is currently a director on the boards of ONGC, Tata Steel, and Hindustan Unilever.

3. Justice JP Devadhar is a retired judge of the Bombay High Court. He has served as the presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal.

4. KV Kamat is a former head of the New Development Bank of the BRICS grouping. He has been the chairman of Infosys.

5. Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder of Infosys. He also headed the Unique Identification Authority of India, which rolled out Aadhaar.

6. Somasekharan Sundaresan, a lawyer, is a securities and regulatory expert. His name was recently recommended to the centre as a judge of the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court collegium later referred his name for judgeship after the centre raised an objection.