Kumar Bahukhandi
EBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch faces scrutiny following allegations from Hindenburg Research about her and her husband’s investments in Adani Group. (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)
The recent report from US short-seller Hindenburg Research accusing Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chief Madhabi Puri Buch of a conflict of interest opens a new theatre of political war for the ruling BJP and the Congress-led Opposition INDIA bloc.
The report accuses the Sebi chief and her husband Dhaval Buch of having monetary interest in Adani Group of Companies through their investments in offshore funds that have invested in the shares of Adani companies. It has already resulted in a fall in the shares of Adani companies between one per cent and four per cent and pulled down the Sensex and the Nifty into the red zone.
The expose gives enough ammunition to the Opposition parties to lambast the BJP, which is considered to have closer links with the Adani management. As expected, Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, has demanded a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the Hindenburg revelations.
hough the Sebi chief and her husband asserted that they have never invested in any Adani Group entities and the investment in the fund mentioned in the claims by Hindenburg Research was made two years before she was appointed as the Sebi chief.
The documents shared by Hindenburg, however, show that the Sebi chief had given instructions to the fund manager to offload the investment after she became the Indian market regulator.
Even if one were to believe that Madhabi Buch had indeed had no idea of the overseas fund’s investment in Adani shares, these kinds of aspersions suggesting conflict of interest will cast a shadow on the integrity of the market regulator.
The Buch couple’s claims about their past corporate career alone won’t inspire confidence among market participants and people in general as it is universally found that corruption has no correlation with an accused’s family wealth. Therefore, the government must order an independent probe into the whole affair and strengthen institutional mechanisms to ensure that the Sebi chief remains beyond doubt in terms of the conflict of interest.
