The SEBI chief, Madhabi Puri Buch, has omitted the Public Accounts Committee meeting scheduled to discuss SEBI's (Security and Exchange Board of India) functioning and performance.
The SEBI and it's chief, Madhbi Puri Buch, came under fire after American research and short-seller think tank Hindenburg accused Madhabu Puri Buch and her husband of having alleged ties with Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group.
The panel, led by prominent Congressman KC Venugopal, had called Buch today to examine Sebi's operations in the wake of the party's accusations that she held a profit-making position at ICICI, a claim the bank has already denied.
The SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) is the watchdog for Indian security markets.
There was no objection to the committee's choice to include the performance review of legally mandated regulatory bodies on its agenda, but Venugopal's decision to call Buch infuriated BJP members because she has been at the centre of a political dispute sparked by the Hindenburg accusations.
The Congress used the short-seller's accusation against Buch to attack the government and try to get her removed, giving the panel's letter requesting that Buch appear before it political overtones.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, a BJP MP and member of the PAC, accused Venugopal of making decisions on his own initiative after the postponement of the PAC meeting. He added that a number of PAC members are addressing LS Speaker Om Birla in protest of Venugopal's actions, including those from the BJP and its alliance partners.
Dubey accused Venugopal of "unconstitutional and disdainful" behavior, arguing that the Congress leader's actions were motivated by politics after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections forced his party to take seats in the opposition benches.
The PAC is in charge of monitoring the government's finances and the operations of public projects. Sebi is one of the "regulatory bodies established by the Act of Parliament" whose performance reviews have been added as a suo motu thing to review.
