Opposition demands SEBI chief’s resignation and JPC probe

New Delhi: The US-based short seller Hindenburg Research’s allegations against SEBI chief Madhabi Buch triggered a political suggest on Sunday with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties demanding her removal and a joint parliamentary probe and the ruling BJP accusing the opposition of being a part of a conspiracy to create financial instability and chaos in India.

The opposition parties also urged the Supreme Court to step in after Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that the SEBI chairperson and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.

In the wake of the allegations, the Congress said the government must act immediately to eliminate conflicts of interest in the regulator’s investigation of the Adani Group and renewed the demand for a JPC probe into the entire matter.

The principal opposition party also said the Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of the “entire scam” and get it probed under its aegis as the investigating agency SEBI is itself accused of being involved in it.

It asserted that in the wake of such “serious allegations”, Buch cannot remain in her position.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the integrity of SEBI has been “gravely compromised” by the allegations against its chairperson and asked whether the Supreme Court would look into this matter suo motu once again following the revelations.

“Honest investors across the country have pressing questions for the government: Why hasn’t SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch resigned yet? If investors lose their hard-earned money, who will be held accountable -- PM Modi, the SEBI Chairperson, or Gautam Adani?” the former Congress chief said.

The TMC demanded that SEBI chairperson Buch should immediately be suspended in the wake of the allegations.

“This situation is extraordinary. BJP is clearly on the back-foot in Parliament. We need both- a JPC as well as an SC monitored probe,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien said.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra alleged that this is both a “conflict and capture of SEBI”.

“Chairperson of SEBI is an opaque investor in Adani Group. Samdhi Cyril Shroff is on Corporate Governance Committee. No wonder all complaints to SEBI fall on deaf ears,” she alleged on X.

“What greater conflict of interest and mockery of justice is there?” she said in another post on X.

“We cannot trust SEBI under this Chairperson to do any inquiry into Adani. The Supreme Court will HAVE to revisit its decision post this information becoming public,” she said.

Demanding a JPC probe, the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that it was a “BJP scam” and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should step down on moral grounds.

The BJP alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties are part of a conspiracy to create financial instability and chaos in India and rejected Hindenburg’s charge against the SEBI chairperson as an attempt to discredit the financial watchdog.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the short-selling firm, which last year levelled serious allegations against the Adani group, is facing scrutiny from Indian probe agencies.

Opposition parties are echoing its allegation, and the conspiracy is now clearly visible that they want to create chaos and instability, especially in the financial sector, he said.

Noting that many such critical reports emanating from foreign soil are released just ahead of or during Parliament sessions, he said opposition leaders were aware that the report was coming when Parliament was scheduled to meet.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said SEBI previously cleared Adani before the Supreme Court following the January 2023 Hindenburg Report revelations but new allegations have surfaced regarding a “quid-pro-quo” involving the SEBI chief.

The small and medium investors belonging to the middle class who invest their hard-earned money in the stock market need to be protected as they believe in the SEBI, he said, adding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry “is imperative to investigate this massive scandal,” he said.

In a statement issued late Saturday night and reposted on X on Sunday, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The government must act immediately to eliminate all conflicts of interest in the SEBI investigation of Adani”.

The Left parties also demanded that a JPC should be constituted to probe the allegations.

In a statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said, “Given these serious charges against the head of the regulatory authority, it is necessary that the Chairperson step aside till a proper investigation is conducted.”

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, in a post on X, said, “The latest Hindenburg revelations have accused the regulator, SEBI, and that its chairperson herself is part of the manipulation. She must immediately quit and a Joint Parliamentary Committee to be constituted for the investigation.”

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also demanded a JPC probe.

On similar lines, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha said it shows the level of corruption.