SEBI chief Madhabi Buch rented property to firm under investigation, alleges Congress

New Delhi: The Congress came out with some more ‘revelations’ about the misconduct of the chairperson of the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Madhabi Puri Buch.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson and chairman of the Media and Publicity Department, Pawan Khera wondered as to ‘who was protecting the SEBI chairperson despite such damning revelations against her.’ “Or she was being protected at someone else’s behest who may have got her actually appointed to this position,” he said.

Congress alleges SEBI chairperson’s links to firm under scanner

Referring to fresh revelations about the SEBI chairperson’s continued misconduct, Pawan Khera said, she rented another of her properties to Green World Buildcon and Infra Private Limited, a company owned by individuals associated with Indiabulls, which was under SEBI’s scanner for various cases.

Giving details, he said, Buch owns another flat in Mumbai. In 2021-22, she earned rental income from this property rented out to a company owned by Mukul and Vipul Bansal.

Mukul Bansal has a significant background with Indiabulls Group, being part of its senior management and on the board of several related companies. He said, Indiabulls Group, where Mukul Bansal has been involved, has faced several cases with SEBI, with multiple adjudication orders and regulatory actions between 2021 and 2022. This, he pointed out, was a clear violation of the SEBI’s Code on Conflict of Interest for Members of Board, 2008 under sections 4, 7, and 8.

Alleging violations by another SEBI member, Ananth Narayan, Khera said that he had rented out a property to a stockbroker. Besides, he added, Narayan was also holding shares in a company that is a major financial service provider regulated by the SEBI.

The Congress spokesperson said that he received rental income from a stockbroker employed with a brokerage firm that Narayan regulates by virtue of heading the department that deals with market intermediaries. He said this again was a clear violation of the SEBI’s Code on Conflict of Interest under sections 4, 7 and 8.

‘Why does Buch still hold her position?’

He questioned the compulsion of retaining Buch as the SEBI chief despite irrefutable evidence against her. “What is the fear and what are the compulsions that despite so much being revealed about her, she was still being retained”, he asked, while adding, “Or is she blackmailing the government that she would not be alone to fall”.

He said no democratic government could protect a tainted official. “When so much is in the public domain, who is the big man protecting her?” he asked, remarking, “Is this big man PM of the country or someone even ‘above’ him who is pulling the strings from behind?”

Khera also referred to the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi’s regular revelations made in multiple episodes through his YouTube channel, wondering why the government was still not taking any action.

Allegations against SEBI chief and Adani Group

In August, New York-based Hindenburg Research, a firm known for forensic financial research and allegedly profiting through short-selling shares and bonds, claimed that Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had a stake in offshore entities connected to the Adani Group.

The allegations were published as part of the second public investigative report they released on August 10; the first one on the Adani Group was released in 2023.

The latest report alleged that the regulatory body failed to act on claims made in its 2023 report against the Adani Group due to Buch’s offshore investments linked to Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani and a prominent figure in the Adani Group.

The allegations come one and half months after SEBI issued a show cause notice to Hindenburg in response to their allegations about the Adani Group. The notice accused Hindenburg of violating Indian market regulations and profiting by short selling.

In a joint statement released on August 10, SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch dismissed the allegations against them as ‘baseless insinuations.’

They clarified that the investment mentioned in the Hindenburg report was made in 2015 when they were private citizens in Singapore, two years before Madhabi joined SEBI. The investment decision was based on their trust in Anil Ahuja, a long-time friend and seasoned investment professional. The statement also criticised Hindenburg for attacking SEBI’s credibility instead of responding to the show cause notice served to them.