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 "Madhabi Puri Buch, Madhabi, Madhabi Puri")
The Congress had staged a nationwide protest in early August against Hindenburg’s allegations against Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch, who have denied any wrongdoing | (Photo: PTI)
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has decided to examine the functioning of the country’s top regulatory authorities and summoned the heads of Sebi and TRAI for their deposition on October 24.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and the Ministry of Communications have also been invited to appear before the key parliamentary panel, with sources saying that representatives of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Madhabi Puri Buch, and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti are expected to appear before the panel.
Sources said the unspoken convention in parliamentary practice is that heads of institutions must attend parliamentary panel briefings whenever they are summoned.
The meeting of the key parliamentary committee comes amid a major row over allegations leveled by US research body Hindenburg against Sebi chair Madhabi Puri Much and her husband Dhaval Buch over her alleged links with the Adani group.
“Audit briefing followed by oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on the subject “Review of performance of regulatory bodies established by the Act of Parliament” “, the official agenda for the October 24 PAC meeting has been announced.
“Oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Communications, the Department of Telecommunications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the subject ‘Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament'”, it said -it also indicated.
The Congress had staged a nationwide protest in early August against Hindenburg’s allegations against Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch, who have denied any wrongdoing.
The Congress also demanded his resignation as Sebi chief.
Hindenburg, in one of its reports, had claimed that the Buchs held stakes in offshore entities linked to the alleged financial irregularities of the Adani group. Hindenburg also said that 18 months after its “damning” report on Adani, “Sebi has demonstrated a lack of interest in the accusations against Adani”.
The Adani group and the Buch duo have denied the allegations.
First publication: October 5, 2024 | 7:22 a.m. STI