The Adani saga has drawn a variety of reactions after a report by US-based Hindenburg Research set off the rout in Adani stocks from January 25. Angry “nationalists” called it an attack on India. This was followed by reams of Adani apologia from mainstream editors and reporters. A few lawsuits have got the Supreme Court exercised. But the core issue about the Adani saga is how share prices of the group companies rose to such extraordinary levels without any investigation or regulatory intervention. The fact that Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL) and a few other Adani stocks have remained pinned to the lower circuit with no buyers in sight only confirms the central point of the Hindenburg report: All Adani stocks were insanely overvalued the day the report was released. That price rigging is the elephant in the room.