Continuing its attack on SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, the Congress on Thursday demanded an independent inquiry to probe a series of allegations against her. The latest in the Congress’s line of fire was that during her tenure at ICICI Bank, Buch was also employed at Greater Pacific Capital, a private equity fund where NSA Ajit Doval’s son Shaurya Doval is a member of the leadership team.

Addressing media at the AICC headquarters here, Chairman of Professionals’ Congress and Data Analytics Praveen Chakravarty said that the demand for an independent inquiry was in national interest given that, as he said, domestic and foreign investors were concerned, leading to doubts about the integrity of Indian stock markets.

“Today.. we learnt through a news article that Buch, during her tenure at ICICI Bank between 2011 and 2013, was also employed at Greater Pacific Capital, a private equity fund where Shaurya Doval (son of NSA Ajit Doval), is a member of the leadership team,” the Congress leader said.

“Given the long list of previous charges, this newsraises even further concern over Buch’s ability to function objectively and independently,” Chakravarty claimed.

Investors’ concern

The Congress leader also stated that there are several investors, domestic and foreign, who have expressed concern to us over the series of charges against the market regulator, suggesting an erosion of trust and credibility of India’s stock markets.

“The Congress party wants a strong and robust stock market with many foreign and domestic investors’ participation. It is not in the nation’s interest to have clouds of doubt, fear and uncertainty over the market regulator. Only an objective, independent inquiry with the SEBI Chairperson Buch stepping aside until then can restore trust and confidence in India’s stock markets and hence the economy,” Chakravarty told reporters.

Internal documents

He also stated that many internal documents are being shared by insiders on this matter. There are several more in the financial industry that want to volunteer information, documents and other evidence anonymously.

He talked about a whistleblower website which, according to him, collects documents 100 per cent securely and anonymously, that independent investigative journalists can receive. It is www.indiawhistleblower.com, he pointed out.

Earlier on September 2, Congress spokesperson and Chairman of the Media and Publicity Department, Pawan Khera, had released figures to insist Buch’s pension benefits were double than her salary, and questioned why there was a break of one year just before she joined SEBI in 2017.

This was a day after the ICICI Bank had refuted allegations and said the payouts to Buch were part of her retiral benefits.

Chakravarty said that it was a clear case of conflict of interest since the ICICI stock was regulated by SEBI. “Again, ICICI Bank which is indirectly implicated, responded to this charge while Buch, the primary accused, remained silent. Why did ICICI respond on behalf of Buch, when in a similar case with Chanda Kochar, it did not defend her and instead set up an independent inquiry?” he wondered.

The Congress has been demanding SEBI chief to step down since Hindenburg Research, an American short seller, came out with a report on August 10, this year, alleging that “SEBI’s unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect shareholders in the Adani Group stemmed from Buch’s complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani.”

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