SEBI on May 6 had issued summons to Aniruddha Bahal, founder of Cobrapost news website, seeking details of the expose of alleged money laundering operations by DHFL. Among other things, SEBI has asked Bahal to share details, evidence and source of the material used in the expose, sources told BusinessLine.

‘Systemic fraud’

Just days ahead of the Union Budget, Cobrapost held a press conference and claimed it had unearthed a financial scam through which DHFL’s promoters and associate companies committed systemic fraud to siphon off public money.

On January 28, stock market sentiment was hit as Sensex and Nifty fell over 1 per cent due to a rush to get out of positions in debt-laden company stocks and those with high quantum of shares pledged by promoters. This was after Cobrapost announced on January 29 that it will expose a ‘financial scam’ worth over ₹33,000 crore. DHFL too has complained to SEBI against Cobrapost, sources said.

Markets took the Cobrapost announcement seriously as its previous expose on major Indian banks had led to a government investigation. Responding to a query from BusinessLine, Bahal said, “We have furnished required information as sought. We have shared our story, the questionnaire we sent to DHFL and social media posts. Though all of it was in the public domain, this is the first time I am hearing of this complaint (by DHFL).

“The notice by SEBI does not indicate whether it is acting on DHFL complaint or if the investigation is directed against Cobrapost. But if true, then it is a shocking case of suppression of free press. It would be a classic case of DHFL trying to have the messenger shot instead of dealing with the facts as they stand, which inter alia includes siphoning of funds and insider-trading by promoters of DHFL. It appears that SEBI is conducting an investigation on the basis of our DHFL story. However, it is unclear as to the direction of such investigation.”

SEBI did not respond to an email query.