ICICI Bank on Monday refuted charges made by the Congress that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch drew salary from the bank while being a full-time member of the regulatory body.
“ICICI Bank or its group companies have not paid any salary or granted any Esops to Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits. It may be noted that she had opted for superannuation with effect from October 31, 2013,” ICICI Bank said in an exchange filing.
“All the payments made to Buch post her retirement had accrued to her during her employment phase with the ICICI Group. These payments comprise Esops and retiral benefits,” the bank said.
Earlier in the day, the Congress had accused Buch of another conflict of interest, stating that she received a total of Rs 16.80 crore from the ICICI group from her time of joining Sebi in 2017 up until Monday.
Apart from the alleged violation of Sebi’s code of conduct by holding an “office of profit”, this was also a conflict for Buch-adjudicated complaints against ICICI and its affiliates, Congress said, pointing out that this conflict of interest, over and above the Adani group probe, puts Sebi under a “huge cloud of suspicion”.
This income includes a salary of Rs 12.63 crore received from ICICI Bank between 2017 and 2021 when she was a whole-time member at Sebi, in violation of Sebi’s code of conduct for board members, a press release by the Congress said.
In a press briefing on Monday, Congress demanded Buch’s immediate dismissal, pressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify her appointment by the appointments committee of the cabinet.
The Congress also alleged that Buch received an income of Rs 22.41 lakh from ICICI Prudential from 2021-2024. She received employee stock ownership plans (Esops) from ICICI Bank worth Rs 2.84 crore and TDS on the Esops of Rs 1.10 crore from 2021-2023, the Congress said.
To this, ICICI Bank said that as per rules existing at the time of Buch’s Esop grant, employees including retired employees had the choice to exercise their Esops anytime up to a period of 10 years from the date of vesting.
The Congress also accused Buch of escaping income tax payment to the tune of Rs 50 lakh, “as the benefit of TDS on Esop paid by ICICI Bank is a prerequisite and again is liable for tax”, the release said.
“As per the income tax rules, the difference between the price of the stock on the day of exercise and the allotment price is treated as perquisite income and is reflected in Part B of the Form16 of employees, including retired employees. The bank is required to deduct the perquisite tax on this income. In addition, Form-16 covers the payment made towards the retiral benefits of former employees,” the bank said.
These fresh accusations come three weeks after Hindenburg Research claimed that the Sebi chairperson may not have conducted a proper investigation into the Adani Group due to a conflict of interest.