New Delhi. In the backdrop of allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research against regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhavi Buch, the Congress on Sunday said the government should immediately remove all conflicts of interest in the regulator’s probe into the Adani Group. It also reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
The opposition party also said that the ‘alleged collusion of the country’s top officials’ can only be resolved by setting up a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the full extent of this ‘scam’. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that SEBI had given a ‘clean chit’ to Modi ji’s close friend Adani before the Supreme Court in Hindenburg’s January 2023 disclosures. He said that however, new allegations of ‘quid pro quo’ involving the SEBI chief have surfaced.
He said on ‘X’, “Small and medium investors belonging to the middle class, who invest their hard-earned money in the stock market, need to be protected, because they trust SEBI. ” He said, “Until there is a JPC inquiry into this mega-scam, Modi ji will continue to help his friend and the constitutional institutions of the country will continue to be torn apart.” Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that SEBI chairperson Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure ‘foreign funds’ used in the alleged Adani money laundering scam.
Hindenburg said in a blogpost 18 months after its last report on Adani, “SEBI has not surprisingly shown interest in Adani’s alleged undeclared web of Mauritius and foreign units.” SEBI chief Buch and her husband issued a joint statement completely rejecting Hindenburg’s allegations and calling it completely baseless. They said that his financial position (exchange) is like an open book.
The Adani Group on Sunday said Hindenburg’s new allegations were a malicious, mischievous and manipulative selection of publicly available information and that it has no commercial relationship with market regulator Sebi chairperson or her husband.
Congress also raised questions about SEBI’s account being closed on Twitter. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that SEBI’s account on Twitter is ‘closed’ and it is not accessible to the common people.
Ramesh said, “Some reports suggest that it may have been closed for some time, but such continued unavailability – at a time when evidence of conflict of interest by its top leadership has emerged – is surprising. The Modani scam has been going on for several months and SEBI’s inaction has been disappointing time and again.” He said questions arise as to why the ‘account’ was closed.
Ramesh said, “This ambiguity raises the question whether the platform is quietly removing old advisories/press releases that blame the organization/its leadership for the Modani scam.” He said that the platform is a national asset and the authorities should not restrict public access to it.
The Congress leader said, “This unavailability to the common people in times of crisis is not a sign of a mature, professional independent market regulator.
In a statement on this development, Ramesh had said that SEBI’s “strange reluctance to investigate the Adani mega scam” has been observed for a long time, especially by the Supreme Court’s expert committee. He said that the committee has noted that SEBI had weakened the reporting requirements related to the ultimate beneficiary (ie actual ownership) of foreign funds in 2018 and removed it completely in 2019.
He said, “This has tied the hands of the securities market regulator to such an extent that it suspects wrongdoings but also sees compliance with different conditions in various regulations. This is the contradiction due to which SEBI has not reached any conclusion on this matter.” He said, “After a lot of damage was done in the Adani case under public pressure, SEBI implemented strict reporting rules on June 28, 2023. It told the expert committee on August 25, 2023 that it was investigating suspicious transactions, yet no result of the investigation was obtained.” Pawan Khera, head of the media and publicity department of the Congress, said on Sunday that the shocking revelations not only expose the “deep relationship” between the SEBI chief and the Adani Group, but also reveal how appointments are made in monitoring institutions in this government.
SEBI’s integrity seriously compromised: Rahul Gandhi on Hindenburg controversy
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the allegations against the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have “seriously compromised” the integrity of the institution and asked whether the Supreme Court will again take suo motu cognizance of the matter.
Gandhi’s remarks came after Hindenburg’s report, in which the US research and investment firm, in its report released on Saturday night, has expressed suspicion that the reluctance of capital market regulator SEBI to take action against the Adani Group could be due to SEBI chief Madhavi Puri Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch’s stake in foreign funds linked to the Adani Group.
Gandhi said in a post on ‘X’, “The integrity of the securities regulator SEBI, which is responsible for protecting the wealth of small retail investors, has been seriously affected by the allegations against its chairperson.” The Congress leader said, “Honest investors across the country have many questions for the government: Why has SEBI Chairperson Madhavi Puri Buch not resigned yet? If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be responsible for this – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, SEBI Chairperson or Gautam Adani?”
Supreme Court should take cognizance of Hindenburg’s allegations against SEBI chief: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said that the Supreme Court should take cognizance of the allegations leveled against SEBI chief Madhavi Puri Buch by US research and investment firm Hindenburg Research. AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said at a press conference here that SEBI had told a Supreme Court panel that the investigation into the Adani Group was “directionless”. He said, “The money of the SEBI chief and her husband was invested in shell companies. Why were these facts hidden from the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court should pay attention to the new developments and see how the facts were hidden.”