“Vulture Fund, thoda zyada ho gaya, hit job…”: Who said what about Hindenburg 2.0?

Industry leaders and experts have strongly criticised the recent report by Hindenburg Research targeting SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch, terming it baseless and sensationalist.

Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai was one of the first to react, calling the report “character assassination by a vulture fund.” He took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his views, writing, “Rubbish allegations aimed at sensationalism. There was a Supreme Court-monitored investigation overseen by a high-level panel – when the vulture fund was fully exposed, dirt was smeared.” Pai also defended SEBI’s regulatory processes, stating, “All SEBI’s regulations are made after open consultations. The regulations show a collective thinking of the market and regulators based on global benchmarks.”

Deepak Shenoy, CEO of Capitalmind, also weighed in, calling Hindenburg’s recent allegations without substance. Commenting on a post on X, Shenoy noted, “That’s not the case, I feel like they’ve basically gone into sensationalism. There’s hardly any substance.”

Gurmeet Chadha, managing partner and CIO of Complete Circle Capital, took a broader view, saying the allegations were part of a “systematic attack” on Indian institutions. “RBI and SEBI are among the best in the world. Don’t overreact and let the facts come out. This is not an isolated incident!” Chadha wrote on X, urging caution in responding to the allegations.

Providing a legal perspective, defence lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai criticised the report for lacking solid evidence. He said, “Routine investment vehicles are hyped up in the report to create the impression of ill-gotten and opaque wealth. No criminal court in the world would take cognizance of this ‘material’ as there is no criminal offence.” Dehadrai stressed that the report does not provide any evidence linking SEBI chairman Buch to criminal activities and that the mere existence of an offshore company does not imply wrongdoing.

Tax lawyer Ajay Rotti also expressed skepticism. He argued that the report made “ridiculous connections” and warned that the opposition could exploit the allegations to disrupt political discourse. “Ridiculous connections made by force. Nothing makes sense. But the sad thing is that the opposition will take this to an even sillier level and has enough to disrupt Parliament for the next week. Although technically this is without substance, it looks fatal given the low level of our political discourse,” Rotti wrote on X.

Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, the 17th Chief Economic Adviser to the Indian government, termed the latest allegations as “a contract killing that lacks intellectual rigour”. Expressing confidence in Buch’s integrity and ability to refute the allegations, he wrote: “I have known SEBI Chairperson Madhabi personally for about two decades. Given her unimpeachable integrity and intellectual prowess, I am sure she will tear this Hindenburg contract to pieces.”

Intellectual property lawyer Safir Anand said Hindenburg’s actions were driven by desperation in the face of rising market prices. “It is clear to me that Hindenburg is desperate in the face of rising market prices. A flop leads to desperation to avert many consequences for them, including legal action,” he wrote on X.

Responding to the allegations, SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch issued a joint statement denying the allegations as “baseless” and an attempt at “reputation destruction”. The couple stressed their transparency, saying, “Our lives and finances are an open book” and said they were ready to provide any further financial documents, including those from their time as private individuals, to the relevant authorities.

The Adani Group also responded to Hindenburg’s report, dismissing the allegations as “malicious, spiteful and manipulative”. The group accused Hindenburg of repeating discredited claims that have already been thoroughly investigated and rejected by the Supreme Court in March 2023. They reiterated that their foreign holding structure is fully transparent and all relevant details are disclosed in public documents. The Adani Group further clarified that it has no business relationship with the persons or entities mentioned, which it described as a calculated attempt to damage its reputation.

As the debate continues, opposition parties have used the opportunity to put pressure on the government on the Adani issue. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a statement, demanded immediate action to remove conflicts of interest in the SEBI probe into Adani. “The government must act immediately to remove all conflicts of interest in the SEBI probe into Adani. The fact is that the apparent complicity of the country’s top officials can only be resolved by setting up a JPC to investigate the entire extent of the Adani mega scam,” Ramesh wrote.

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi says, “In recent years, a foreign report has always been released when Parliament begins. A BBC documentary was released just before Parliament. The Hindenberg report came out in January just before Parliament was in session… All these scenes are taking place during Parliament… The opposition has such foreign connections that they create instability and anarchy in India during every Parliament session… They want to create economic chaos in India by creating confusion… Now they are attacking SEBI. Why has the Congress always sided with foreign companies for the last 30-40 years? Why has it sided with Union Carbide?…”