SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch skips PAC meeting, leading to political tensions

Madhabi Puri Buch’s absence postpones Parliament’s PAC meet

In a notable development, Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), did not attend a scheduled meeting of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday, citing “pressing reasons.” This absence led PAC chairperson and Congress leader K C Venugopal to postpone the meeting, igniting a heated exchange between Congress and BJP members of the panel.

The PAC had summoned Buch to review SEBI’s functioning amid allegations of conflict of interest made by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, a claim she has strongly denied. Buch also faced accusations of holding an office of profit at ICICI Bank, which the bank has firmly rejected. In light of these allegations, the Congress party had called for her removal from the position.

“In our first committee meeting, we decided to review our regulatory bodies, and we called this meeting specifically for that purpose,” Venugopal explained to reporters. He mentioned that an exemption request from Buch’s team was initially denied, leading her to confirm her attendance later. However, Venugopal stated that at 9:30 a.m. on the day of the meeting, he received notice that she could not travel to Delhi due to a personal emergency. “Considering that the request was made by a woman, we decided to postpone the meeting,” he added.

BJP criticizes Congress leadership

In response, BJP members present at the meeting accused Venugopal of acting unilaterally and politically motivated. BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that Venugopal’s conduct was unparliamentary and indicated that some PAC members were approaching Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to address these concerns. Another BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, criticized Venugopal for allegedly raising “non-existent” issues to undermine the central government and destabilize the economy.

Dubey characterized Venugopal’s actions as “unconstitutional and disdainful,” suggesting they were influenced by the Congress party’s need to rally support after its poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Context of the SEBI controversy

SEBI has faced increased scrutiny from the opposition following allegations by Hindenburg Research regarding “stock price manipulation” by the Adani Group. The report questioned SEBI’s inaction, suggesting that Buch’s financial ties to offshore funds linked to Adani may have influenced her decisions. Buch labeled these allegations as “baseless.”

The Congress party intensified its criticism of Buch last month, alleging that she earned Rs.16.80 crore from ICICI Bank between 2017 and 2024 while serving on the SEBI board. However, ICICI Bank has denied any payments beyond her retirement benefits, maintaining that no salary or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) were granted to her post-retirement.

Next steps

The PAC is set to reschedule the meeting for a later date. Although the committee’s decision to review regulatory bodies like SEBI has been approved, it is anticipated that the BJP will oppose the opposition’s agenda, given its majority within the panel.

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