In the wake of the U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research’s allegations against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Buch, the Congress on Sunday (August 11, 2024) 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 (JPC) probe into the matter.
The Opposition party also said the “seeming complicity of the highest officials of the land” can only be resolved by setting up a JPC to investigate the full scope of the “scam”.
JPC imperative to probe ‘massive scandal’: Kharge
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said a JPC inquiry is imperative to probe this “massive scandal”. 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”.
In a post on X, Mr. 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 and 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,” he said.
Authorities should not be withholding public access: Jairam Ramesh
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SEBI account on Twitter is “locked”, and therefore inaccessible to the general public.
“Some reports suggest it may have been locked for a while, but this continued inaccessibility — at a time when evidence of conflict of interest by its top leadership has come out — is puzzling. “The ‘Modani’ scandal has been brewing for many months now, and the SEBI’s inaction has been a recurring disappointment,” Mr. Ramesh said. He said questions emerge such as why was the account locked.
“This opacity leads to questions about whether the platform has been quietly deleting past advisories/press releases which may be incriminating the organisation/its leadership on the ‘Modani’ scam,” Mr. Ramesh said.
“The platform is national property and authorities should not be withholding public access,” Mr. Ramesh said.
“This non-accessibility to the public in the time of crisis is not a sign of a mature, professional, independent market regulator,” the Congress leader said.
SEBI’s ‘strange reluctance’ to investigate Adani mega scam noted: Jairam Ramesh
In a statement issued late on Saturday night (August 10, 2024) and reposted on Sunday (August 11, 2024), Mr. Ramesh said the SEBI’s “strange reluctance to investigate the Adani mega scam” has been long noted, not least by the Supreme Court’s Expert Committee.
Mr. Ramesh said, “The Committee had noted that SEBI in 2018 diluted and in 2019, entirely deleted the reporting requirements relating to the ultimate beneficial (i.e. actual) ownership of foreign funds.”
“This had tied its hands to the extent that ‘the securities market regulator suspects wrongdoing, but also finds compliance with various stipulations in attendant regulations... It is this dichotomy that has led to SEBI drawing a blank worldwide’,” Mr. Ramesh said quoting the Expert Committee.
“Under public pressure, after the Adani horse had bolted, SEBI’s board reintroduced stricter reporting rules on 28 June, 2023. It told the Expert Committee on 25 August, 2023 that it was investigating 13 suspicious transactions. Yet the investigations never bore fruit,” the Congress leader added.
He said the Hindenburg Research’s Saturday revelations show that Ms. Buch and her husband invested in the same Bermuda and Mauritius-based offshore funds in which “Vinod Adani and his close associates Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shahban Ahli invested funds earned from the over-invoicing of power equipment”.
“These funds are believed also to have been used to amass large stakes in Adani Group companies in violation of SEBI regulations. It is shocking that Buch would have a financial stake in these same funds,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said the revelation raise fresh questions about Gautam Adani’s two 2022 meetings in quick succession with Ms. Buch, shortly after she became the stock market regulator’s chairperson.
Revelations expose ‘cozy relationship’ between SEBI chief and Adani: Pawan Khera
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said on Sunday (August 11, 2024) that the shocking revelations do not just expose the “cozy relationship” between the SEBI chief and the Adani group, they show how appointments to watchdog institutions are made in this government.
“A simple due diligence done by the government before appointing Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch as SEBI chairperson would have brought these damning details out,” he said in a post on X.
“It would be naive to believe that those in the government were not aware of these offshore investments of Madhabi Buch and Dhaval Buch,” Mr. Khera said. “The buck stops at the doorstep of the Prime Minister of India. Only a JPC can get all the answers,” he asserted.
Mahua Moitra raises questions
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra raised questions on X demanding answers for detailed clarification.
In a post on X, she questioned the SEBI chief whether she had invested in IPEplus Fund 1 in 2015 being a part of Global Development Opportunities Fund, a part of Global Opportunities Fund used by Vinod Adani. Ms. Moitra has also asked when Ms. Buch ceased to have a stake in this fund; and further asked if Anil Ahuja, former director of Adani Enterprises/Adani Power was part of this fund.
Among her many other questions, Ms. Moitra also asked if the SEBI chairperson had disclosed to SEBI about her ownership stakes when she was a whole-time member of it.
Trinamool Congress MP Moitra went on to ask if Ms. Buch, before stating to the Supreme Court that SEBI “had drawn a blank”, had informed the committee/Supreme Court that some of the funds that she was tasked to investigate was, in fact, part of the same entity that she had invested in to.
SC should take note of allegations: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded that the Supreme Court take note of the allegations levelled by U.S. short seller Hindenburg against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the SEBI had told a Supreme Court panel that the investigation into the Adani group was "directionless".
"SEBI chief and her husband's money was invested in shell companies. Why were these facts hidden from the Supreme Court? The apex Court should take note of the new developments and how facts were hidden," he said.
Published - August 11, 2024 04:27 pm IST
