The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking a probe into the alleged routing and rerouting of funds through overseas entities into the Indian equity market, including transactions involving Adani Group entities.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana declined to entertain the plea and directed petitioner Ketan Tirodkar, a former journalist, to pursue a pending review petition before the Bombay High Court.
The Court directed the party to pursue their pending review petition with the Bombay High Court before seeking further judicial relief.
Counsel for Tirodkar submitted that the PIL concerned alleged “unregulated offshore fund centring in equities through interconnected entities” and sought relief under Article 32. Counsel also argued that the petitioner had been granted liberty to approach the Supreme Court.
The Bench, however, reiterated that the pending review proceedings before the Bombay High Court should be pursued first.
The petition claimed that the petitioner had studied the alleged flow of funds into the Indian equity market for around 15 years and relied on documents obtained from overseas company registries and Indian authorities.
It alleged that entities incorporated in Singapore, Cyprus, the UK, Dubai, Mauritius and other jurisdictions were being used to route and reroute funds to and from India. The plea also referred to transactions involving Adani Group entities and overseas investment entities.
Among other reliefs, the petitioner sought status reports from the Department of Economic Affairs and SEBI, disclosures regarding public sector bank exposure exceeding ₹100 crore per borrower and related entities, and details of loans written off by PSU banks.
The plea referred to Rs 17,495 crore in loan write-offs allegedly disclosed by Bank of Baroda and sought details of advances and credit facilities extended against share-pledge agreements.
It also sought preliminary inquiries by the CBI, ED and SFIO, action under Section 216 of the Companies Act, 2013, and examination of companies sharing common addresses, email addresses or directors.
The petitioner further sought information from the Ministry of External Affairs regarding beneficiaries and sources of overseas investment funds, as well as details of an alleged investigation by the Netherlands Police.
Another prayer sought constitution of a study group headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine alleged shortcomings in the functioning of regulatory and enforcement agencies and suggest reforms.
The Supreme Court ultimately declined to entertain the PIL, directing the petitioner to pursue the pending review before the Bombay High Court and approach the top court thereafter, if necessary.
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