NEW DELHI — Advocate Vishal Tiwari has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, urging the court to direct the Central government and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to provide details about the recent stock market crash and the consequent losses suffered by investors following the Lok Sabha election results.
The petition was submitted as an interlocutory application in the ongoing Hindenburg vs Adani case, reported PTI.
In January, the Supreme Court had instructed the Central government and SEBI to protect investors’ interests based on the recommendations of an expert panel. Tiwari argued that the public remains uninformed about the progress of SEBI’s investigations and whether any reports have been submitted to the court.
Tiwari’s application highlighted significant investor losses due to the market crash, which occurred after the actual election results were announced. He presented news reports as evidence, pointing out that while exit polls had predicted a strong performance for the BJP-led NDA, the actual results, with the NDA securing 292 seats, led to a substantial market decline.
On June 4, the Sensex dropped by 4,389.73 points (5.74%) to 72,079.05, and the Nifty 50 fell by 1,379.40 points (5.93%) to 21,884.50. Adani Group stocks were notably impacted by the election results. Tiwari emphasized that media reports had shown a stock market surge following exit polls predicting over 350 seats for the NDA, contrasting sharply with the post-result downturn, which saw investor losses amounting to nearly ₹20 lakh crore.
The Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, has called for accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of giving misleading investment advice before the results. Gandhi demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate what he termed as the “biggest stock market scam ever.”
In interviews with NDTV before the election results, both Modi and Shah had predicted a significant rise in the stock market. Modi had forecasted a sharp rise on the day of the results, while Shah had anticipated a market surge on June 4.
The Supreme Court is now expected to review the petition and decide on the next steps to address the concerns raised by Tiwari and ensure investor protection.