A lawyer has filed an application before the Supreme Court “to direct” the government and the market regulator to give a report on the share market crash and loss to investors after election results on Tuesday.

Vishal Tiwari also wants the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to submit a report on its investigation of allegations against the Adani Group by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research early last year.

The court said on January 3 said there was “no ground” to transfer Sebi's investigation either to a special investigation team or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It asked Sebi to conclude its remaining two investigations of the group by April 3. Sebi is yet to update the court about the investigations.

The court had asked Sebi and the government to investigate whether “the loss suffered by Indian investors due to the conduct of Hindenburg Research and any other entities in taking short positions involved any infraction of law”.

Tiwari's application asks the court to “direct the Sebi to submit its conclusive investigation report without any delay”. “As per reports published in some media news the loss was of Rs 20 lakh crore (Rs 20 trillion). This again has raised question mark upon the regulatory mechanism of the stock exchange and after the loss suffered in 2023 the same has been repeated and despite this…nothing has changed,” it said.

The share market went high after exit polls but crashed when actual results of the elections were announced. “So again it has raised the question that whether again the regulatory authority and mechanism has failed…whether again some manipulations were made after the exit polls came," said the application.

The Supreme Court had dismissed pleas seeking third-party investigation into Hindenburg’s allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by the Adani Group. Sebi was conducting a “comprehensive investigation” and its conduct “inspires confidence”, said a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

In a 46-page verdict, the court said: “Sebi has completed 22 of the 24 investigations into the Adani Group. It submits that the remaining two are pending due to inputs being awaited from foreign regulators. We also record the assurance given by the solicitor general on behalf of Sebi that the investigations would be concluded expeditiously. Sebi cannot keep the investigation open-ended and indeterminate in time. Hence, Sebi shall complete the pending investigations preferably within three months.”