Further accusations of conflict of interest were made by the Congress on Friday against Madhabi Buch, the chairperson of the Sebi, stating that she received rental income from a company that was under investigation by the capital markets regulator for a number of issues, including insider trading.
According to Jairam Ramesh, general secretary of the Congress and in-charge of communications, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be the only one to answer the question of how much more proof is required to demonstrate the capital markets regulator’s breakdown in honesty and integrity.
According to data from the NSE, 10 crore Indians with distinct PANs currently own investments in this market. They deserve better, don’t they? Why is he standing still? What fears does he harbor?” Ramesh stated on X in a post.
As a whole-time member and later chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Buch received rental income totaling Rs 2.16 crore from “Carol Info Services Limited,” a business connected to Wockhardt Limited, between 2018 and 2024, according to Pawan Khera, head of the Congress’ media and publicity department.
Sebi was looking into Wockhardt Limited for a number of issues, including insider trading in 2023, he said during a news conference at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.
Invoking a conflict of interest, Khera claimed that this was a clear instance of corruption, in violation of sections 4, 7, and 8 of Sebi’s 2008 code on conflicts of interest for board members.
“On March 2, 2022, the prime minister’s Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed the Sebi chairperson. The Congress leader questioned, “Was her appointment approved on the understanding that she could keep her prior financial connections, as long as she behaved in accordance with the prime minister and his close associates?
He pointed out that former chairpersons of Sebi took great care to prevent even the appearance of a conflict of interest in their duties at Sebi and in their previous posts.
“M Damodaran, for example, sold his fifty shares in SBI when he assumed control of UTI in 2001, while CB Bhave stepped down from all positions related to the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), of which he had previously served as chairman. On the other hand, Ms. Buch just moved her money to her husband, which calls into question her credibility “Khera stated.
Why, he questioned, was no attempt made to find out if Buch would adhere to these predetermined guidelines?
“Or was this lack of scrutiny part of a mutually beneficial arrangement?” Khera queried.
“The head of the regulatory body becomes pliable if it is compromised. Maybe that was the plan,” the Congressman remarked.
Khera said he was issuing a challenge to the Sebi chief to publicly refute the allegations made against her.
On Thursday, the Congress had called for an independent investigation into the situation, claiming that it was in the best interests of the country to do so since international investors were becoming anxious and there were questions about the integrity of India’s financial exchanges.
On Monday, the opposition party also accused Sebi Chairperson Buch of having a conflict of interest and demanded that Prime Minister Modi, in her capacity as the head of the Cabinet’s Appointments Committee, disclose her appointment.
The opposition party had asked that the Sebi chairwoman be fired immediately and said that the Supreme Court need to take notice of these recent revelations.
The Congress has claimed that since the current Sebi chairwoman assumed office in 2017, she has continued to collect revenue from ICICI Bank while holding an office of profit in addition to receiving a salary from Sebi.
Later, ICICI Bank denied that, contrary to what the Congress had said, it had given Buch an ESOP or paid her a salary after she retired on October 31, 2013.
In response, the Congress questioned ICICI Bank’s claim that it had neither given the Sebi chairman a salary nor an ESOP after her retirement. It questioned why, if the amount handed to her was her “retiral benefit,” it was not consistent in terms of both frequency and amount.
Days prior, Buch was the target of a new attack by Hindenburg Research, which claimed that she and her spouse have interests in unidentified offshore assets that were allegedly utilized in the Adani money-siphoning affair.
Buch maintained that their finances were transparent and refuted the accusations as unfounded.
The Adani Group said it has no business contact with the chairperson of Sebi or her husband and described the accusations as malicious and manipulation of specific public facts.