Mahua Moitra once again targeted Adani group & SEBI over a new report by Hindenburg linking Madhabi Puri Buch & her husband to the group.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra alleged that this is both a “conflict and capture of SEBI” in an Adani Hindenburg fresh report on SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch & her husband. She demanded SEBI chairperson’s resignation & said ‘’Some pertinent facts about Chairperson SEBI’s investment in a multi tier opaque fund to prevent transparency- she needs to resign NOW!’’
“Chairperson of SEBI is an opaque investor in Adani Group. Samdhi Cyril Shroff is on Corporate Governance Committee. No wonder all complaints to SEBI fall on deaf ears,” she alleged on X.
“One simple point – Chairperson who has invested in (& interacted personally with) very same funds that need investigating, is leading organization entrusted with fiduciary responsibility of finding out other owners of the fund tells Supreme Court & its 6 member committee that it had drawn a blank & was a chicken and egg situation in its investigation into the ownership of 13 entities.’’
“We cannot trust SEBI under this Chairperson to do any inquiry into Adani. The Supreme Court will HAVE to revisit its decision post this information becoming public (sic),” she added.
Integrity of SEBI “gravely compromised”: Rahul Gandhi
In the wake of the allegations, the Congress said the government must act immediately to eliminate conflicts of interest in SEBI’s investigation of the Adani Group and renewed the demand for a JPC probe into the entire matter.
The principal opposition party also said the Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of the “entire scam” and get it probed under its aegis as the investigating agency SEBI is itself accused of being involved in it.
It asserted that in the wake of such “serious allegations”, Buch cannot remain in her position.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the integrity of SEBI has been “gravely compromised” by the allegations against its chairperson and asked whether the Supreme Court would look into this matter suo motu once again following the revelations.
“Honest investors across the country have pressing questions for the government: Why hasn’t SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch resigned yet?
“If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be held accountable — PM Modi, the SEBI Chairperson, or Gautam Adani?” the former Congress chief said.
“It is now abundantly clear why Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is so afraid of a JPC probe and what it might reveal,” he said.
Opposition Attack On Sebi’s Madhabi Buch
The US-based short seller Hindenburg Research’s allegations against SEBI chief Madhabi Buch triggered a political slugfest on Sunday with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties demanding her removal and a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe, and the ruling BJP accusing the opposition of being a part of a conspiracy to create financial instability and chaos in India.
The opposition parties also urged the Supreme Court to step in after Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that the the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.
Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval dismissed the charges as baseless and alleged that Hindenburg Research is attacking capital markets regulator SEBI’s credibility and attempting a character assassination of its chief instead of replying to a show cause notice served to it for “violations in India”.
The TMC demanded that SEBI chairperson Buch should immediately be suspended.
“This situation is extraordinary. BJP is clearly on the backfoot in Parliament. We need both – a JPC as well as an SC monitored probe,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien said.
Demanding a JPC probe, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that it was a “BJP scam” and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should step down on moral grounds.
The RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) also questioned the role of SEBI.
(With Inputs From PTI)