SC rejects plea seeking to gag media from reporting on the issue

Supreme Court has rejected a plea filed seeking to injunct the media from reporting on the Adani-Hindenburg issue till the court delivers its verdict on the proposed committee.

“We won’t injunct the media…We will pronounce our order,” CJI DY Chandrachud said. Earlier, the court had refused to accept the member names suggested by the Centre in a sealed cover.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declined the plea of advocate M L Sharma who mentioned the matter.

“We are not going to issue any injunction to the media”, the bench also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said.

On February 10, the top court had said the interests of Indian investors need to be protected against market volatility in the backdrop of the Adani Group stock rout and asked the Centre to consider setting up a panel of domain experts headed by a former judge to look into strengthening the regulatory mechanism.

Till now, four PILs have been filed in the top court on the issue by lawyers M L Sharma and Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and activist Mukesh Kumar. Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation, against the business conglomerate.

The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.