India's opp demands fair probe in Adani case

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI:

More than 1,000 Indian opposition party supporters demonstrated in New Delhi, Mumbai and other state capitals on Thursday, demanding a probe into the market regulator chief's alleged conflict of interest in investigating the Adani Group.

The regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, is investigating allegations levelled by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, made in 2023, that the Adani Group used tax havens to sidestep local market regulations.

In a report earlier this month, Hindenburg alleged that the board chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch had previous investments in an offshore fund, also used by the Adani Group, sparking criticism from opposition political parties.

Buch and the Adani Group – whose companies have lost $2 billion in market value since the report – have denied the allegations. However, a senior leader of the main opposition Congress party said the integrity of the market regulator was at stake.

"The government should set up a joint parliamentary committee to investigate allegations against the market regulator chief," Sachin Pilot said, addressing more than 500 demonstrators in New Delhi. He warned that millions of retail investors were losing faith in the watchdog.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has so far refused to give in to the opposition's demands. The government is not inclined to launch a probe against Buch but may consider not extending her three-year term, which ends in March 2025, a senior government source said.

In Mumbai, police, who clashed with some of the Congress party workers, who tried to march towards the office of the Enforcement Directorate, demanding an investigation into the allegations against Buch. Protests were also held in Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and other cities across the country.