Supreme Court dismisses PIL for probe into Viceroy’s allegations against Vedanta Group cos

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a probe into allegations made by US-based short-seller Viceroy Research LLC against Vedanta group companies, questioning the motives of foreign entities commenting on India’s corporate affairs.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar made the observation while hearing the peti-tion filed by lawyer Shakti Bhatia. The petition was withdrawn after senior advocate Gopal Sankarana-rayanan, representing Bhatia, informed the court that his client would not pursue it further.

“Why are companies outside India so concerned about how we conduct our affairs and under what law?” the bench remarked, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, the SEBI, and the RBI, argued that Viceroy Re-search is a short-seller with vested interests.

Mehta alleged that the firm had written to SEBI and other authorities soon after the PIL was filed, demonstrating a “pattern” where foreign agencies issue reports to influence Indian markets. “These institutions have absolutely no credibility. There is a systematic attempt to destabilise Indian compa-nies,” he said, urging the court to dismiss the plea to send a strong message.

Sankaranarayanan clarified that the petitioner did not endorse Viceroy’s allegations but only sought an investigation by SEBI and the RBI. The bench, however, cautioned that if it were to issue notice, it might impose heavy costs, noting that the relief sought was narrow and unnecessary.

Mehta also distinguished the case from the Adani–Hindenburg matter, saying the present plea lacked substance and was part of a tactic used by foreign short-sellers to profit from market disruptions through litigation. The court ultimately allowed the petitioner to withdraw the PIL, declining to delve deeper into the matter.

Earlier, Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran had recused themselves from hearing the case. Viceroy Research LLC, an investigative financial research group registered in Delaware, USA, had re-cently accused Vedanta Ltd, Vedanta Resources Ltd, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, and related entities of finan-cial irregularities. Petitioner Shakti Bhatia claimed to have independently corroborated parts of Vice-roy’s findings and sought regulatory action from SEBI and the RBI.