New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has sent a show-cause notice to Hindenburg Research for “deliberately” sensationalising and “distorting certain facts” in its report on Gautam Adani, Financial Times reports.
In the report, ‘Indian regulators allege Hindenburg’s Adani report indulged in unfair trade practices‘, FT correspondents Antoine Gara, Ortenca Aliaj, and Chris Kay write that Hindenburg,which “has grown into a feared force in financial markets”, alleged “extensive impropriety” at Adani Enterprises, which the conglomerate then denied. “The publication of the (Hindenburg) report in 2023 sent shockwaves through the global financial community and put financial pressure on the empire of Adani, one of India’s richest men,” the report adds.
The 46-page SEBI notice, made public by Hindenburg, has given the research organisation “21 days to respond to its allegations”. The notice has “named US hedge fund Kingdon Capital Management as a silent partner to Hindenburg’s short bet against Adani Enterprises”. However, Hindenburg has claimed the allegations are just “an attempt to silence and intimidate”, reports FT.
In a Bloomberg report, ‘Modi, Gandhi face off in India Parliament over religious tension‘, Swati Gupta writes that the Opposition “is flexing its muscle in a parliament that’s been dominated by the BJP in the past decade” after the ruling party couldn’t secure a majority this time.
The first LoP in a decade, Rahul Gandhi criticised Modi for “espousing religious ideals, yet being divisive” while responding to the President’s address at the beginning of the parliament session, sparking off a “fiery standoff”, writes Gupta. Gandhi accused the BJP of crony capitalism and spreading violence, forcing the PM to reply “directly” by standing up and telling lawmakers — “it is an issue of concern that the entire Hindu community has been called violent”, she adds.
An Al Jazeera report, Concerns as India replaces colonial-era laws with new criminal codes, reported why many politicians and lawyers are opposing the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which have replaced India’s British-era criminal laws.
Though the government says the new criminal laws aim to “give justice, not punishment”, the Opposition has concerns over the passing of the laws last year in the absence of a “worthwhile debate”, says the report, adding that some say it would have made sense to amend the existing laws instead. Many lawyers also told Al Jazeera that “the new laws could create confusion, as they will run parallel to those on trial charged under the previous system”.
“The new laws give power to the police to decide on a case when previously it was up to a judge to decide if a case could proceed to trial. Judicial functions cannot be transferred to police,” Al Jazeera quotes Supreme Court lawyer Nipun Saxena as saying. Saxena also claims that “critical safeguards” are missing under the new criminal laws, causing delayed trials in an already “slow justice system”.
Trump gets immunity & Israel’s military issues evacuation order
In an appeal hearing relating to the 6 June Capitol Hill attacks, former President and Republican presidential candidate for the November US election Donald Trump has been granted immunity from prosecution by the US Supreme Court. To know what this means, read this The New York Times analysis.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has asked Gazan civilians to leave the neighbourhoods of Rafah and Khan Younis in Southern Gaza after rocket attacks by the Israeli military in the region. To know more, read this DW report.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)