Market regulator SEBI is seeking to appoint two new whole-time members (WTMs) to replace incumbents SK Mohanty and Ananta Barua. The tenure of Mohanty will end in June and for Barua in July. SEBI has called for applications for the post and has announced a salary of ₹4 lakh per month, which is equivalent to the pay scale of the Additional Secretary rank in the Central government.
Mohanty, a former income-tax official, had joined SEBI from the erstwhile commodity market regulator FMC. In FMC, Mohanty oversaw the probe into the NSEL scam under the tutelage of the then commodity market regulator Ramesh Abhishek. In SEBI, he was first made an executive director and then became the WTM in 2017 for five years. For a long time as a WTM, Mohanty looked after market regulations and the commodity derivatives department before the portfolio was handed over to another WTM.
Barua, who has been with SEBI since its inception in 1992, remained as SEBI’s WTM for five years after he was elevated from the ED’s post in 2018. Prior to joining SEBI, Barua worked with the Industrial Finance Corporation of India from 1990. He was also advisor at the Bahrain Monetary Agency and Central Bank of Bahrain between 2004 and 2006.
The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC) will recommend the new names for SEBI WTM and applications have to be sent before April 14. FSRASC can identify and recommend even those who have not applied for the post, on the basis of merit.