The Congress on Tuesday claimed that more questions have emerged about "potential malpractice" by SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch, with regulatory filings from a consulting firm established by her before her appointment as SEBI chief revealing that the firm is registered at the same address as its statutory auditor.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the "Adani scandal" and SEBI's integrity is increasingly necessary.
In a post on X, he said more questions have emerged about potential malpractice by the SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch.
"Regulatory filings from a consulting firm established by her before her appointment as SEBI Chairperson reveal that the firm is registered at the same address as its statutory auditor. Although she has since stepped down as a director of this consulting firm, the SEBI Chairperson's husband has been a director since 2019," he alleged.
A firm and its auditor sharing the same address is generally a sign of poor corporate governance, he said.
The ICAI code of ethics requires statutory accountants to avoid bias, conflicts of interest or undue influence, Ramesh said, adding that sharing a location suggests such bias.
"The SEBI Chairperson and her husband also misled the public by claiming that the consulting firms 'became immediately dormant upon her appointment with SEBI'. This is not true. Between 2019 and 2024, the firm earned Rs 3.63 crore in revenue, with most of it generated between 2019 and 2022, when Buch was a full-time member of SEBI," he claimed.
After her appointment as SEBI chief in March 2022, the firm earned about Rs 41.75 lakh, Ramesh further claimed.
In another post on X, Ramesh took a swipe at the government over the Adani issue.
"Modani's FDI policy: Fear, Deceit, Intimidation. Is this how private investment will be stimulated? Is it any wonder that Indian businessmen are being forced to relocate and seek investment opportunities abroad?" he said.
Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.
The allegations have triggered a political slugfest with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties demanding her removal and a JPC probe while the BJP accusing the opposition of being part of a conspiracy to create financial instability and chaos in India.
Buch and her husband have dismissed the charges as baseless and alleged that Hindenburg Research was attacking capital markets regulator SEBI's credibility and attempting a character assassination of its chief instead of replying to a showcause notice served to it for "violations in India".
The SEBI said the allegations against the Adani Group had been "duly investigated" and its chairperson disclosed and from time to time "also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest".
The Adani Group termed the allegations malicious and based on manipulation of select public information. The company said it had no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or her husband.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
