"Feel Vindicated": Ex-Chief Economic Advisor On Clean Chit To Adani Group

Former Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Friday said the Supreme Court-appointed panel's clean chit to the Adani group had vindicated his stance that there had been no fraud or manipulation in the case and the post-2021 stock price surge may be attributed to enhanced infrastructure investment in the wake of India's post-Covid budget.

"The stock price of Adani increased post-2021, primarily from March 2021 onwards. That was the time when the post-Covid budget was presented and the Indian economy changed and started to invest far more in infrastructure. I interpreted Adani to be a beneficiary as an infrastructure enterprise," said Mr Subramanian.

"I feel vindicated by the report that has been submitted to the Supreme Court, where the panel of experts clearly says that they cannot find any evidence to suggest that there was any fraud involved... By looking at the evidence, the panel did not find any convincing evidence of fraud or manipulation," he said.

The former economic advisor also defended the panel's members, including KV Kamat, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, and financial lawyer Somasekhar Sundaresan, from allegations by the opposition Congress, asserting their integrity and expertise.

"These are independent-minded individuals, and they're experts as well. I think you know this has become a trend which I would like to strongly discourage. When the message does not seem to be fitting the prior, there is a tendency to call names. I think that is a tendency that must be avoided," he said.

The expert panel, appointed by the Supreme Court, has cleared the Adani Group following an investigation into allegations of regulatory failure by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over allegations by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.

The panel found no evidence of price manipulation by the Adani Group and noted that the conglomerate had taken the necessary measures to reassure retail investors.

"At this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by SEBI, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation," stated the report submitted to the Supreme Court.