Congress demands JPC probe into Hindenburg revelations, SEBI chief removal

New Delhi: Congress demanded the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the latest revelations made by Hindenburg Research about the conflict of interest of the SEBI Chief Madhabi Buch in probing earlier allegations against the Adani Group.

The party also demanded the immediate removal of the SEBI Chief. “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”, Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate remarked while addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today.

She also appealed to the Supreme Court of India to take suo moto notice of the latest revelations. She pointed out that SEBI had last time told the expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court that it had drawn a blank in its probe against Adani; it had claimed that it could not find anything that Hindenburg had alleged in its earlier revelations about the Adani group’s market manipulations.

Quoting the recent Hindenburg Research report Ms Shrinate pointed out, that it had suggested that there was a conflict of interest involved, as the SEBI Chief had earlier invested in offshore funds that were linked with Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani.

She questioned the involvement and association of the Agora, a consultancy firm, which was originally owned by Ms Buch and later transferred to her husband Dhaval Buch. She also alleged that Blackstone, where Mr Buch holds an influential position and is directly involved with REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), was promoted by Buch, saying it was the investment of the future.

The Congress leader asked whether all this might have happened without the knowledge and patronage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She asked whether Gautam Adani did have a role in Ms Buch’s appointment as the SEBI Chief since the corridors of power are abuzz with murmurs of his (Adani’s) disproportionate influence in important appointments like those of senior officers and even in the judiciary.

Apprehending that the latest Hindenburg Research revelations might lead to the crash of the stock market once again and may cause massive financial losses to small retail investors, she asked, who should be held responsible for their losses.

Ms Shrinate observed that with a single stroke, the credibility of the SEBI Chief and that of Prime Minister Modi had been shredded to pieces.

Appealing to the highest constitutional court of the country, the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognizance of the revelations, she said, the government had no credibility to probe the matter.

She said at stake was the credibility of an institution like SEBI which regulates the market worth about 3-4 trillion dollars. She asked, how can the confidence and faith of domestic as well as foreign investors be retained when the credibility of the SEBI chief had come under question.