In a fresh set of allegations, Congress claimed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch received Rs 2.16 crore in rental income from a company that was under probe by the regulator in various matters, including insider trading.
Congress said Buch rented out one of her properties to Carol Info Services, which is promoted by Wockhardt, in 2018. It alleges Buch received Rs 7 lakh rent from the company in FY19, Rs 36.5 lakh in FY20 and Rs 46.05 lakh in FY24.
“Buch is the chairperson of the same organisation (Sebi) which has complaints against Wockhardt before it. There was a case of insider trading too,” said Pawan Khera, spokesperson of Congress. “This is not just conflict of interest, this is out and out corruption,” he said.
The party alleged that this violates section 4, 7 and 8 of Sebi’s 2008 code on conflict of interests for members of board.
Shares of Wockhardt slipped 5% to Rs 1,034.6 on Friday following the allegations by the Congress party.
Sebi has issued 2 orders in matters relating to Wockhardt since 2023 and has also made settlements in 2 cases.
“How much more evidence is needed to show the collapse of transparency and integrity, as far as the regulator of capital markets is concerned?” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Congress questioned if Buch’s appointment as Sebi chairperson was based on the condition that “she could maintain her previous financial relationships, provided she acted in line with the wishes of the prime minister and his close associates?”
“Previous Sebi chairpersons have gone to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, both in their roles at Sebi and in their previous positions. In contrast, Buch merely transferred her investments to her spouse, which raises concerns about credibility,” Congress said.
Wockhardt and Sebi did not respond to mails at the time of going to press.
This is not the first time that Buch has faced the allegations of conflict of interest. Earlier, Congress had alleged that Buch held office of profit at ICICI Bank while she was a whole-time member of Sebi in 2017.
While Buch did not respond to these allegations, ICICI Bank said it had not paid any salary or employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) after her retirement in October 2013.
The US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, too, had alleged that Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had investments in obscure offshore funds used in the purported money siphoning case of Adani Group.