Days after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided to review the performance of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), amid signs it might summon SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, BJP members of the PAC have raised concerns about the committee’s authority. They argue that only the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), with approval from the central government, can conduct such a review, reports The Indian Express.
Buch has been at the centre of controversy following allegations by US-based Hindenburg Research. The PAC, chaired by Congress leader KC Venugopal, included a review of regulatory bodies in its agenda during an August 29 meeting.
The PAC held its second meeting on Tuesday, though details are not publicly disclosed. The BJP has argued that the PAC can only review SEBI’s performance if there is evidence of misuse of funds allocated by Parliament. The party also differentiates between SEBI as an institution and Buch as an individual facing allegations.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has led the party’s stance that the PAC lacks the authority to review SEBI’s performance. Meanwhile, CAG G.C. Murmu appeared before the committee on Tuesday. The PAC is expected to continue discussions and decide if there is enough support to summon Buch.
The PAC, which consists of 22 members, has 15 MPs from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha.
Constituted under Rule 308 (1) of the Rules and Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha, the PAC scrutinises the Appropriation Accounts of the Government and the reports of the CAG to see that money shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available and used properly.
Following allegations by US short-seller firm Hindeburg Research against Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch of having stakes in “obscure offshore entities used in Adani money siphoning scandal”, the Opposition has been demanding a parliamentary probe into it.
The denied the charges and said that “all disclosures and recusals have been diligently followed, including disclosures of all securities held or subsequently transferred.”
The Adani Group said that the it has “absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing”.