Adani Ports benchmark Deloitte quits SEBI probe 2 days before deadline, reveals lack of comprehensive role

New Delhi: Deloitte Haskins & Sells Saturday as resigned as the auditor for Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ), one of the listed companies of the Adani Group, citing the lack of a wider audit role within the group as the reason.

However, the resignation has given fresh impetus to the saga between the Adani Group and US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, especially exacerbated by the fact that there were certain transactions that Deloitte had raised concerns over, which APSEZ did not want to independently look into.

Further complicating the issue was Adani’s own statement saying it was not convinced by Deloitte’s reasons for resigning.

The Congress party was quick to raise the issue, and Hindenburg Research’s founder Nate Anderson too took credit for the development.

These developments come just two days before the 14 August deadline set by the Supreme Court for market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete its investigation and submit its report on whether Adani group companies had indulged in fraud and corporate misconduct.

As a quick background for context, Hindenburg Research had, in January 2023, published a report alleging corporate misconduct, stock price manipulation, and accounting fraud on the part of the Adani Group.

This led to a war of words between the two entities, a precipitous drop in the stock prices of the Adani Group companies, a Supreme Court-appointed committee investigating the matter, and SEBI coming under increasing pressure to complete its own investigation into the Adani Group.