Amid ongoing controversy over alleged conflicts of interest involving SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), parliamentary watchdog for government spending, has decided to review the performance of regulatory bodies established by Acts of Parliament.
The PAC is responsible for auditing the revenue and the expenditure of the government.
Sources told The Indian Express that the panel, which has notified its agenda, is likely to summon the Buch during the review process.
The PAC, chaired by Congress leader and Lok Sabha member KC Venugopal, will examine several issues, including the performance of regulatory bodies, banking and insurance sector reforms, and the implementation of centrally sponsored welfare schemes.
Buch is under scrutiny due to allegations that her role in the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) investigation into Hindenburg Research’s claims against the Adani Group is compromised by payments she received from ICICI Bank, her former employer.
The Congress has called for an independent probe into these payments. Opposition parties have demanded a probe into the Hindenburg Research’s allegation that the current SEBI chairperson Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had “stake in obscure offshore entities used in Adani money siphoning scandal”.
The PAC’s next meeting on September 10 will feature a briefing by the Jal Shakti ministry on the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (Jal Jeevan Mission), based on a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, reports PTI.
The committee will also audit fees and charges at public infrastructure sites, including airports managed by the Adani Group.
The PAC also plans to review various other audits, including those related to border roads construction, railway services, and the preservation of monuments.
The 22-member PAC has 15 MPs from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha. Other than Venugopal, it has senior BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nishikant Dubey, K Laxman, Anurag Thakur, Jagdambika Pal and Sudhanshu Trivedi as its members. Former Union Minister T R Baalu, T Shiva (both DMK), Shaktisinh Gohil, Amar Singh and Jai Parkash (Congress), C M Ramesh, Aparajita Sarangi, Ashok Chavan, Tejasvi Surya (BJP), TMC leaders Sougata Roy and Sukhendu Shekhar Ray, Dharmendra Yadav (SP), Magunta Sreenivasalu Reddy (TDP), V Balashowry (JanaSena) Praful Patel (NCP) are also its members.