Madhabi Puri Buch was made the chairperson of SEBI on March 2, 2022
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — In fresh charges against the Securities and Exchange Board of India chief, Congress said on Tuesday that Madhabi Puri Buch has earned crores through the consulting company Agora Advisory Private Limited from Mahindra and Mahindra Group, ICICI, Dr. Reddy’s and Pidilite Industries.
At a press conference here, Pawan Khera, chairman of the party’s Media and Publicity Department, asserted that availing the services of Agora when Buch was a whole-time director of SEBI amounts to “conflict of interest and violates Section 5 of SEBI’s Code on Conflict of Interest for Members of the Board (2008)”.
“It amounts to a conflict of interest as Buch held 99 per cent shares in the company, as initially revealed by Hindenburg Research in its latest report,” Khera said. However, in her response, Buch said that the consulting firms – in Singapore and India – set up by her became immediately dormant when she took up her appointment with SEBI. As per Khera, Buch still owns 99 per cent of the company that has been actively providing advisory and consultancy services.
“In 2016-17, 2019-2020, to as late as 2023-24, as a whole-time member of SEBI and later as its chairperson, Ms. Madhabi P. Buch received a total of Rs 2.95 crore through Agora Advisory Private Limited. (Exception years: 2017-2018 and 2018-2019),” Khera said.
He pointed out that out of the Rs 2.95 crore received by Agora for consultancy, Rs 2.59 crore came from Mahindra and Mahindra Group, accounting for 88 per cent.
Congress said that Madhabi Puri Buch’s husband Dhaval Buch also received Rs 4.78 crore as income in personal capacity from Mahindra and Mahindra, over and above the Rs 2.95 crore received by Agora. It pointed out that Dhaval Buch’s income was received at a time when Madhabi Puri Buch was the whole-time director of SEBI, and adjudicating cases of Mahindra.
“If this was not shocking enough, the SEBI chairperson’s husband – Dhaval Buch received Rs 4.78 crores as income in a personal capacity from the M&M. This is in addition to the Rs 2.95 crores received by ‘Agora Advisory Private Limited’ through its consultancy/advisory services.” “This comes at a time when his wife, as a Whole Time Member of SEBI, was adjudicating cases of the same group,” Khera said.
Madhabi Puri Buch was a full-time member of the markets’ regulator from April 5, 2017 to October 4, 2021. She was made the chairperson of SEBI on March 2, 2022.
Last month, the Congress accused her of holding an office of profit at ICICI Bank and receiving an income of Rs 16.80 crore between 2017 and 2024. The ICICI Bank has, in a statement, denied paying any salary to Buch.
In another damning charge, the Congress last week alleged Madhabi Buch received rental income from an entity affiliated with a Mumbai company that SEBI was investigating for various cases, including that of insider trading.
