The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member K.C. Venugopal will hold a performance review of “regulatory bodies established by Act of Parliament”, such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The PAC will also audit “fees, tariffs, user charges and so on” levied at public infrastructure such as airports. Currently, seven Indian airports are managed by the Adani Group.
The PAC is responsible for auditing the revenue and the expenditure of the government. As per a Lok Sabha bulletin dated September 2, the PAC has picked 160 subjects for deliberations during its tenure. The subjects were decided at the first meeting of the PAC held on August 29. The 22-member committee has 12 members from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and eight Opposition MPs, including four from the Congress.
The panel has picked five subjects for suo motu investigations, including “performance review of regulatory bodies established by Act of Parliament” and “levy and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities”. The two issues have been the cornerstone of Congress’s 2024 election campaign.
Several regulatory bodies can be reviewed under the first subject, including bodies like the SEBI and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The SEBI, which was established under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, has been under sustained attack from the Congress and other Opposition parties since the August 10 revelations by Hindenburg Research. In January 2023, Hindenburg Research had alleged “stock price manipulation” by the Adani Group in its report, and on March 2, 2023, the Supreme Court asked SEBI to probe the allegations within two months. However, on August 10 this year, the row took a new turn when Hindenburg Research released another report alleging that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch had a stake in obscure offshore entities used in what it alleged was an “Adani money siphoning scandal”.
The second subject, “Levy and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities” will bring highways, railway stations and airports under focus. The Congress during its election campaign had alleged that the government, and especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, favoured the Adani Group in management of airports across India. Currently seven airports, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai; Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad; Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow; Mangaluru International Airport; Jaipur International Airport; Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati; and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, are managed by the Adani Group. The Group’s airport business is managed by Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) and it is said to handle 23% of India’s total passenger traffic.
The PAC is one of the oldest Parliamentary committees that has its roots in the Financial Committee established in 1921 following the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms. “Broadly, there are three things that distinguish the PAC from the other parliamentary committees. One, it was the first and original parliamentary committee formed to counter the government of the day. Second, it has a far greater ambit than any Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee. The PAC is empowered to call any person in connection to its investigations and third, its recommendations are binding on the government,” K.V. Thomas, former PAC Chairperson said.
Published - September 05, 2024 10:18 pm IST
