Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry is imperative to probe this "massive scandal" after alleged SEBI chair Madhabi Puri Buch had a stake in offshore entities linked to the Adani case.
In a post on social media platform X on August 11, he alleged that until a JPC inquiry probes the issue, concerns persist that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to "shield his ally, compromising India's Constitutional institutions, painstakingly built over seven decades".
The Congress said the government must act immediately to eliminate all conflicts of interest in the regulator's investigation of the Adani Group and reiterated its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter.
Kharge said, "SEBI had previously cleared Adani, a close associate of PM Modi, before the Supreme Court following the January 2023 Hindenburg Report revelations. However, new allegations have surfaced regarding a quid-pro-quo involving the SEBI Chief. The small & medium investors belonging to the Middle Class who invest their hard-earned money in the stock market need to be protected, as they believe in the SEBI."
A JPC inquiry is imperative to investigate this "massive scandal", Kharge said.
SEBI Chairman Buch and her husband have denied the allegations levelled against them as baseless and asserted that their finances are an open book.
“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 and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them," the couple said in the joint statement.
In a blog post on August 10, Hindenburg said 18 months since its damning report on Adani, "SEBI has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani's alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities."
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