Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC) is set to investigate Securities and Exchange Board of India chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and may summon her later this month, The Economic Times has reported.
During the committee's first meeting on August 29, the issue was introduced under the agenda item "Performance review of regulatory bodies established by act of parliament". While the agenda does not explicitly mention SEBI or its chief, the report said insiders indicate that the “review” stems from the barrage of allegations levelled against Buch, the report said.
Moneycontrol couldn’t verify the report independently.
PAC, which is responsible for auditing the revenue and the expenditure of the government, is headed by Congress leader KC Venugopal and has members from the ruling NDA as well as the opposition INDIA bloc.
Hindenburg Research has accused Buch of conflict of interest over SEBI's investigation into the allegations the American short-seller levelled against the Adani Group.
The Congress has questioned the payments Buch received from her former employer, ICICI Bank, even after she quit the private lender and joined Sebi.
The payments violated office of profit rules, the party said, calling for an independent investigation. Buch’s conduct was a worry for the integrity of India's stock markets, which could impact foreign investor confidence.
Zee founder Subhash Chandra, who is being probe by Sebi, has accused Buch of corruption. A group of SEBI employees has complained to the finance ministry about a "toxic work culture" within the regulator.
Buch and ICICI Bank have both denied wrongdoing. Sebi said it has taken steps to address the employees’ concerns and some "external elements" were behind the complaints. It also dismissed allegations of "public humiliation" at the workplace as "misplaced".
While the PAC's at its meeting on September 10 will focus on the audit review of the Jal Jeevan Mission, additional sessions later in the month are expected to take up the Sebi issue. Officials from the finance and corporate affairs ministries may also be summoned, the ET report said.
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