Congress fires fresh salvo against Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch

Fresh allegation that Buch traded in listed securities while holding a position in Sebi came a day after a detailed response from the Sebi chief and her husband

The Congress on Saturday continued its attack against Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), accusing her of trading in listed securities while being in a position which offered her access to unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI). 

 

Congress leader Pavan Khera claimed that Buch traded securities worth nearly Rs 36.96 crore while she held positions in the market regulator between 2017 and 2023, which he said amounts to a violation of the code of conduct and a conflict of interest. 

 Khera further added that Buch held foreign assets between 2017 and 2021 and questioned if the government was informed about these holdings. 

 

 

The Congress leader said that Buch held investments in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, ARK Innovation ETF, Global X MSCI China Consumer Discretionary ETF, and Invesco China Technology ETF. 

 

“We are always worried about why money is coming from China. But it is very disturbing that the Sebi chairperson was investing money in Chinese funds,” said Khera. 

 

However, the opposition did not clarify in which listed securities the Sebi chief traded. 

 

“Has Madhabi Puri Buch or anyone in her family dealt with companies whose names were leaked in Panama papers or Paradise papers,” questioned Khera adding that the party would make more ‘revelations’. 

 

The Congress leader also questioned why Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) paid Madhabi’s husband Dhaval Buch and their consultancy firm Agora Advisory separately. 

 

The fresh allegations come a day after Madhabi and her husband refuted the allegations by the opposition party in a six-page letter, calling the claims false, malicious, and motivated. 

 

“It appears that the allegations are being made in instalments, only to keep the pot boiling. If the objective had been to arrive at the truth rather than to malign individuals and institutions with distortions of facts, we wonder why all allegations would not be brought out, in public, at one go. We would then have given all the facts at one go,” the couple said in a response on earlier allegations on Friday. 

 

The Buchs added that Madhabi has never dealt with any files related to the ICICI Group, the Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, Alvarez and Marsal, Sembcorp, and Visu Leasing at any stage after her joining Sebi. 

 

In the joint statement, the couple refuted claims of getting incomes from corporates in return for favour, by stating that such questions were defamatory to the companies.