he Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected pleas to transfer the probe into allegations made in a report published by US-based short seller Hindenburg group against the Adani group of companies from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to an SIT, saying the petitioners had not made out any valid ground for this.

A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud noted that SEBI had completed the investigation in 20 out of the 22 matters in connection with the allegations levelled against the Adani group, and directed that probe into the other two pending cases be completed expeditiously, preferably within three months.

The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, also asked the Centre and its investigative agencies to “probe into whether the loss suffered by Indian investors due to the conduct of Hindenburg Research and any other entities in taking short positions involved any infraction of law and if so suitable action shall be taken”.

The Supreme Court rejected allegations of conflict of interest raised by the petitioners against some of the members of its expert committee and said the charges were “unsubstantiated”.

The court said that the facts of the case do not warrant a transfer of investigation from SEBI. The judgment said that though it has the power to transfer the investigation in an appropriate case, such power is exercised in an extraordinary case when the competent authority portrays glaring, wilful and deliberate inaction in carrying out the investigation. “The threshold for the transfer of investigation has not been demonstrated to exist” in the case, the court said.