Institutional integrity of SEBI tarnished by PM Modi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. File Pic

On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the institutional integrity of SEBI as a robust market regulator has been "tarnished by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save his crony friends."

"The institutional integrity of SEBI as a robust Market Regulator has been tarnished by PM Narendra Modi to save his crony friends! The Mega Modi-Adani Scam is being investigated by SEBI. SEBI Chairperson has multiple issues of conflict of interest. The Congress party has now revealed numerous such instances. The Modi-Shah-led committee appointed the SEBI Chairperson. Did they deliberately appoint her to benefit their crony friends? Or were they unaware of the shady financial dealings? Are SEBI orders on regulated companies, now, contingent on the CONSULTANCY FEES its Chairperson receives through a shady company? Is this 'Na Khaunga, Na Khane Doonga'?" Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked, posting in on X.

He further said that the hard-earned money of 10 crore stock market investors has been "jeopardised by this mega scandal choreographed by Modi ji."

Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the party has been exposing the financial relationships of the SEBI chairperson with various companies but they have not yet received any reply from either SEBI or PM, reported ANI.

"We have been exposing the financial relationships of the SEBI chairperson with various companies and the conflict of interest over the last 8-10 days. We have not received any reply from either SEBI or PM...ICICI did respond to our charges that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri has been receiving money from ICICI in her account," Khera said, reported ANI

"The response of ICICI did not have the kind of substance that a response should have...In the second part of the Hindenburg report, there was a mention of a company Agora Advisory Private Limited which is the company of Madhabi Puri and her husband. She then issued a clarification that after joining SEBI, this company became immediately dormant. But she still owns a 99 per cent stake in the company by 31st March 2024...She is caught red-handed lying about the company's stake. This is a case of willful concealment," he said, reported ANI.

On September 2, Congress labelled fresh allegations against the SEBI Chairperson accusing her of office for profit.

"She (SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch) between 2017 and 2024 was taking regular income of Rs 16 crore 80 lakh from ICICI Bank," alleged Pawan Khera, at the press briefing, reported ANI.

Madhabi Puri Buch was a whole-time member of SEBI from April 5, 2017, to October 4, 2021. Then on March 2, 2022, Madhabi Puri Buch became the Chairperson of SEBI.

Recently, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made allegations against her accusing her of conflict of interest. Last month, Hindenburg Research alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in "both the obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal." Hindenburg Research said it has made the new allegations based on documents provided by a whistleblower and investigations carried out by other entities.

Soon after, the SEBI Chairperson and her husband, in their capacity, issued a detailed statement rejecting the allegations.

In the joint statement released to the media they said, "In the context of allegations made in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10, 2024, against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report. The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we will be issuing a detailed statement in due course."

(With inputs from ANI)