Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch skips PAC meeting, performance review of market regulator postponed

A scheduled meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Thursday was deferred after with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chief Madhabi Puri Buch, along with other officials, expressed their inability to attend, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The meeting was part of the influential parliamentary panel’s performance review of regulatory bodies established by Acts of Parliament.

PAC chairperson and opposition leader K. C. Venugopal told reporters that Buch had requested an exemption from attending, but the request was denied.

“Today morning, a communication was received from the Sebi chairperson and the other Sebi members that because of a personal exigency, she was not in a position to travel to Delhi,” Venugopal said, adding that the meeting was deferred considering the request from a woman.

Queries emailed to Sebi and the finance ministry seeking comments for the story remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

The PAC’s review comes amid criticism from the Congress party, which has accused Sebi of being slow in certain investigations, allegedly tarnishing the regulator's reputation.

The Congress party has alleged that Buch earned consultancy fees from listed companies including Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Pidilite Ltd and Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, raising conflict-of-interest questions for the chair of Sebi. It also alleged that she has been deriving an income from ICICI Bank while being employed at Sebi.

These allegations are the latest in a series that started when US-based Hindenburg Research disclosed a show-cause notice sent by Sebi to the short-seller in connection with a Supreme Court-directed investigation into the Adani Group’s money trail.

Hindenburg has also accused Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch of holding shares in an offshore fund, which in turn had seen investments from another offshore fund that is alleged to have been used by Vinod Adani, elder brother of billionaire Gautam Adani, as a vehicle to manipulate Adani Group firms’ share prices.

The Buchs and the Adani group have strenuously denied these allegations.

Also read | To whom is Madhabi Puri Buch really accountable?

The PAC reports to Parliament to ensure executive accountability. It reviews funds sanctioned by Parliament, scrutinizes the government’s annual finance accounts, and examines other relevant matters. Ministries and government bodies are required to act on PAC recommendations, which are later presented as 'action taken reports' to Parliament.

Thursday’s meeting had been scheduled to take oral evidence related to the performance of the market regulator, as per the Parliament’s records.