New Delhi: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch cited “personal exigency” to skip Thursday’s scheduled meeting of the Lok Sabha Public Accounts Committee (PAC), even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of the panel approached the Speaker against the decision to summon her.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who is the chairperson of the PAC, told reporters that while the meeting was supposed to begin at 11 am, the panel was informed at 9.30 am by Buch’s office that she would not be able to travel to Delhi. This forced him to postpone the meeting, Venugopal said.
The Congress leader added that the decision to postpone the meeting was taken keeping in mind that it was a “woman’s request”.
Later in the day, in a post on X, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi questioned Buch’s “reluctance” to answer questions before the PAC, and asked who was behind “the plan to protect her from being answerable to the PAC”.
Buch has been mired in allegations of impropriety and conflict of interest following allegations first levelled against her by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research that she and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities linked to the Adani Group.
Subsequently, the Congress held multiple press conferences, levelling more allegations of financial impropriety and conflict of interest against her. She has rejected the charges.
However, PAC chief Venugopal decided to summon her, setting the stage for a showdown in the meeting of the House panel.
According to Lok Sabha Secretariat records, the stated agenda of the meeting was briefing and gathering oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and SEBI on the “Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament”.
At 2 pm, the PAC was scheduled to meet to collect oral evidence from the representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on “Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament”.
‘Buch initially pushed back’
Venugopal said that Buch had initially pushed back and sought an extension in appearing before the PAC. “But that was denied and following that she confirmed her presence and that of her team. In the first meeting of the PAC itself, we decided to have a suo motu subject for review of our regulatory bodies. We summoned the officials of SEBI for a review of its performance. We had sent the notices to the concerned people,” he said.
However, BJP members on the panel opposed the decision to make Buch appear before it. On Thursday, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned Venugopal’s right to summon Buch, adding that the party’s members on the committee would approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against the move.
“This is a very big issue. His (Venugopal) words were suo motu. He decided to review the performance of regulatory bodies. There are standing committees to review the performance of concerned regulatory bodies. The standing committee on finance reviews the performance of SEBI and EBI. The committee on IT reviews the performance of TRAI. The PAC’s work is to deliberate over CAG reports.”
“We have also got information from trusted sources that there is no mention of SEBI in the CAG report. The chairman’s conduct is unparliamentary. They (opposition members) walked out; they did not allow others to speak. It looks politically motivated and that is why we have complained to the Speaker,” Prasad said.
The BJP has previously argued before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that the functions of the PAC under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha Sabha are confined to the scrutiny of the appropriations account of the Government of india and CAG reports”.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who is also a member of the PAC, had earlier written to Birla against Venugopal, accusing the senior Congress leader of raking up “non-existent” issues to “defame” the central government and “destabilise” the country’s financial structure and economy. He alleged that Venugopal was overreaching his powers as the PAC chairperson.
BJP sources also said that “the government has found no conflict of interest in dealings of the SEBI chief and the Opposition is only trying to target the Centre by summoning the SEBI chief before PAC with the aim of demoralising the economic regulatory bodies”.
Soon after informing the members that the meeting had been postponed due to Buch’s absence, Venugopal walked out, while the BJP members remained in the room. Prasad claimed that the 13 BJP members, who were in the majority, did not get an opportunity to put forth their viewpoint.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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