Congress General Secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over allegedly shielding Sebi Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch after the revelations in the Hindenburg report.
He raised a series of questions to Prime Minister Modi on his official X account and said that the “final revelation of shocking malpractices has come to light”. Ramesh alleged that the “unorganic prime minister”, who is “protecting the SEBI chairman by his silence”, should come out in public and answer the questions.
These are the questions Congress asked Prime Minister Modi
“1. What are the appropriate qualification criteria for the appointment of heads of supervisory authorities?
2. Has the ACC, headed by the Prime Minister, investigated these shocking facts about the SEBI Chairman or has the ACC been completely outsourced to the PMO?” he asked.
ACC, or the Cabinet Appointments Committee, was established in 1950. It is headed by the Prime Minister and is responsible for appointments to key positions in central government and public sector enterprises.
The Home Minister is also part of the Committee. In addition, Jairam Ramesh asked PM Modi if he knew that the Sebi chairman held the office of profit and was drawing a salary from ICICI during her tenure as the head of the market regulator.
“3. Was the Prime Minister aware that the SEBI Chairman held a gainful position and received salary/income from ICICI during her tenure at SEBI?
4. Was the Prime Minister aware that the present Chairman of SEBI, as a full-time member of SEBI, was handling complaints against ICICI and its affiliates and was also receiving income from ICICI?
5. Why did the current SEBI Chairman continue to receive ESOP benefits from ICICI even though they had expired long ago?
6. Who is protecting the SEBI Chairman and why?” he further asked.
Finally, he demanded that Prime Minister Modi should no longer remain silent on the issue and that he should answer these questions.
“The non-organic PM cannot remain silent on these questions. How long will he remain silent on these questions? Crores of Indians are investing in the capital market. They are demanding complete transparency and fairness from the regulator,” he said.
On August 10, Hindenburg Research published a report on the alleged involvement of Sebi Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch in interests in offshore entities linked to the Adani Group.