'What is he afraid of?': Congress ups the ante, targets PM Modi over Sebi chief row

NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday levelled up its allegations against Sebi chief Madhabi Puri-Buch from 'conflict of interest' to that of 'corruption' and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inaction over the matter.

Continuing with his "non-biological" rhetoric, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, "The question really needs to be asked of the non-biological Prime Minister, not of anyone else. As far as the regulator of the capital markets is concerned, how much more evidence is needed to show the collapse of transparency and ethics?"

Questioning PM Modi's inaction over the issue as he was a part of the committee that appointed Buch as the Sebi chief, Ramesh added, "According to NSE data, there are now 10 crore Indians with unique PANs who have invested in some form or the other in this market. Don't they deserve better? Why doesn't he do something? What is he afraid of?"


Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera held a press conference in which he alleged that Buch, while being a whole time member of Sebi, rented out a property of hers to a company whose complaints were being dealt with by the financial body on a regular basis.

"Madhabi Puri Buch had become the whole time member of Sebi in 2018. Now after becoming a whole time member, she rented out one of her properties. In the financial year 2018-19, she received a rent of Rs 7 lakh on it," Khera said.

"She received rent of Rs 36 lakh for the same property in 2019-20, which increased to Rs 46 lakh this year. The name of the company to which Madhabi Puri Buch gave her property is Carol Info Services Limited, which is part of Wockhardt company," he continued.

"Wockhardt is the same company whose complaints are being continuously dealt with by Sebi," he added, calling it "completely a case of corruption".

This comes after allegations of Buch receiving regular income from ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential while serving as a whole-time member and later as the chairperson of Sebi.

ICICI had issued a statement responding to the initial allegations by the Congress claiming that it had "not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs to Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits."

Responding to Congress's allegations, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya had recently said: "Congress picks it up from where Hindenburg Research left, targets the Sebi chief, ends up with egg on its face. Is it a coincidence that every time Congress decides to peddle a bogus agenda, either Mr Kharge or Khera, are pushed to the fore? "


Congress later questioned how the retiral benefits could be more than the salary.

"The average salary drawn by Madhabi P Buch from 2007 up until 2013-14 (right before her superannuation from ICICI) is Rs 1.3 crore per annum. However, the so-called retiral benefit given by ICICI to Madhabi Buch from 2016-17 to 2020-21 averages to around Rs 2.77 crore per annum," the party had alleged.

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