Former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has stated that the report published by U.S.-based short seller Viceroy Research on the Vedanta Group "lacks credibility". Chandrachud suggested that Vedanta would be justified in pursuing legal remedies against Viceroy. Vedanta had sought an independent legal opinion from the former CJI regarding the allegations made in the Viceroy Research report.

Justice Chandrachud stated that Viceroy has a history "of taking short positions in listed companies and then publishing misleading reports to profit unlawfully from the resulting market impact". He also questioned the credentials of Viceroy’s researchers, including Fraser Perring, Gabriel Bernarde, and Aidan Lau. He noted that Perring had been barred from social work in the UK, while Bernarde and Lau lack verifiable financial expertise.

The Viceroy Research report, released on July 9, 2025, called British firm Vedanta Resources a "parasite" that is "systematically draining" its Indian unit. The report alleged financial misgovernance, claiming Vedanta's corporate structure funnels subsidiary funds to service parent-level debt, and it questioned corporate governance practices at Vedanta and its group entities. The report also made serious imputations, branding the group a "Ponzi scheme" and a "house of cards built on a foundation of unsustainable debt, looted assets, and accounting fiction".

Vedanta has dismissed the Viceroy report as "a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations" issued without contacting the group. The company stated that the legal opinion it received "effectively rebuts the allegations" and provides clarity on the legal and governance standing of the group. Vedanta has made the legal opinion available on its official website.

Chandrachud pointed out that Vedanta operates within a regulated framework monitored by SEBI and the RBI and that there was no evidence of regulatory breaches. He also noted the absence of any adverse findings against the company by any regulator or credit agency.

Chandrachud highlighted Viceroy's history of market manipulation and legal troubles, including a $3.7 million fine in South Africa for a false report on Capitec Bank and a settled 2023 U.S. defamation lawsuit by Medical Properties Trust. He also noted that the Delhi High Court had criticized Viceroy's tactics in a prior Ebixcash case.

Chandrachud found Viceroy's language actionable under Indian law and suggested Vedanta could pursue defamation lawsuits against Viceroy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Other legal options available to Vedanta include filing complaints with SEBI for potential market manipulation and issuing public rebuttals to restore investor confidence.