Adani-Hindenburg case verdict: On December 3, the Supreme Court issued its decision on a bundle of petitions filed seeking a court-monitored investigation or CBI probe into charges made against the Adani Group of firms in the Hindenburg Research study. The decision was delivered by a bench that included Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

Here are some key takeaways from the decision:

1. During the reading of the verdict, CJI DY Chandrachud denied main petitioners' demands to halt the ongoing SEBI probe into charges made by Hindenburg Research. The Supreme Court ruled that there is no need to move the inquiry into the Adani Hindenberg issue from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to a Special inquiry Team (SIT).

2. The CJI stated that SEBI has concluded investigations in 20 of the 22 instances and has instructed the regulatory body to complete the remaining two cases within three months.

3. In its decision, the Supreme Court stated that the OCCRP report cannot be used to cast doubt on the SEBI probe. "The reliance on OCCRP report is rejected and reliance on a third party organization report without any verification cannot be relied upon as a proof," the CJI was said to have ruled.

4. The CJI stated that relying on newspaper reports and third-party entities to question the statutory regulator does not inspire trust, adding that they can be viewed as inputs but not solid proof to call the SEBI probe into question. The Supreme Court also stated that there was no evidence to call the SEBI inquiry into question.

5. The Supreme Court directed the Centre and SEBI to look into if the Hindenburg report on short selling violated any laws and, if so, to take appropriate legal action. It also directed the Centre and SEBI to consider an expert committee's advice to improve the regulatory framework.

Meanwhile, Adani Group equities rose 3% to 18% in intraday trade on January 3 following the Supreme Court's decision on petitions demanding a probe into fraud charges against Adani Group companies, as detailed in a Hindenburg Research article.