The Opposition has demanded the removal of Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri-Buch following the latest Hindenburg allegation that she and her husband were involved in transactions with an offshore fund that funnelled money from the Adani group into Indian equity shares.

Opposition parties have also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe.

Hindenburg Research, the US-based short seller, has suggested that Puri-Buch was compromised because of her alleged involvement in these financial transactions, and that this could be why the market regulator failed to thoroughly investigate the Adani group for violations of its regulations.

The BJP cited the alacrity of the Congress response to allege that the principal Opposition party was hand in glove with Hindenburg, which had put out a post early on Saturday morning alerting the world of an India-related development.

“Something big soon India,” Hindenburg had posted at 5.34am on Saturday. The report went online late on Saturday night, at 9.57pm India time.

Congress media-in-charge Jairam Ramesh posted a detailed statement about two hours later along with the Latin phrase “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes (Who will watch the watchmen)?”

The statement drew attention to “SEBI’s strange reluctance to investigate the Adani MegaScam” which, Ramesh wrote, was “long noted, not least by the Supreme Court’s Expert Committee”.

Further, the Congress said, the latest Hindenburg report “raises fresh questions about Gautam Adani’s two 2022 meetings in quick succession with Ms Buch shortly after she became SEBI chairperson….”

“The government must act immediately to eliminate all conflicts of interest in SEBI investigation of Adani. The fact is that the seeming complicity of the highest officials of the land can only be revealed by setting up a JPC to investigate the full scope of the Adani MegaScam,” the party said.

Well past midnight, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya responded, alleging: “Hindenberg’s hitjob and Congress’s statement appeared simultaneously. It appears as if some associate of Hindenberg drafted it for the Congress, along with the report, but forgot to instruct the time of release.”

Even before Ramesh had reacted, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale had said: “This is explosive! Also now raises serious questions on why SEBI Chairperson has refused to investigate the alleged exit poll-stock market scam of BJP despite representations from @AITCofficial & even after SEBI meeting MPs of INDIA parties in Mumbai. Is SEBI autonomous at all?”

The Opposition kept the issue alive on Sunday, with the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress holding news conferences.

In the evening, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who has kept up a sustained campaign against the Adani group’s being allowed to become a monopoly on the Narendra Modi government’s watch, posted a video message.

“The integrity of SEBI, the securities regulator entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors, has been gravely compromised by the allegations against its Chairperson. Honest investors across the country have pressing questions for the government: Why hasn’t SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch resigned yet?” he said.

“If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be held accountable — PM Modi, the SEBI Chairperson, or Gautam Adani? In light of the new and very serious allegations that have surfaced, will the Supreme Court look into this matter suo mot(u) once again? It is now abundantly clear why Prime Minister Modi is so afraid of a JPC probe and what it might reveal.”

AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said: “I was punished for exposing Adani’s corruption by keeping me in jail for six months…. This is not Adani’s scam, but Prime Minister Modi and BJP’s scam, under which the whole country has been handed over to his ‘friend’….

“If the Prime Minister has even a little bit of morality, he should resign from his post…. (This) can be investigated only through the JPC, which has been our demand from day one.”

In a post on X, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said: “The latest Hindenburg revelations have accused the regulator, SEBI and that its chairperson herself is part of the manipulation. She must immediately quit and a Joint Parliamentary Committee to be constituted for the investigation.”