NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday announced a nationwide agitation on August 22 demanding the resignation of SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani money siphoning scandal.
The announcement was made after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with all general secretaries, state unit chiefs and AICC state in-charges in the capital.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said that on August 22, Congress workers will hold demonstrations in front of the offices of the Enforcement Directorate.
“The shocking revelations of a nexus between the SEBI and Adani need a thorough investigation. The money of small investors in the stock market cannot be jeopardised,” Kharge too said in an X post.
Last week, Hindenburg Research alleged that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged Adani money siphoning scandal.
The allegations have triggered a political slugfest with the INDIA bloc parties demanding her removal and the BJP accusing the Opposition of a conspiracy to create financial instability and chaos in India.
On Monday, the Congress urged that the Supreme Court should transfer the Adani probe to the CBI or a Special Investigation Team, given the “likelihood of SEBI’s compromise”.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that SEBI, in its statement on the ongoing investigations into Adani Group’s financial transactions, has sought to project an image of hyperactivity, stating that it has issued 100 summons, 1,100 letters and emails, and examined 300 documents containing 12,000 pages.
Ramesh pointed out that on March 3, 2023, the SC directed SEBI to “expeditiously conclude the probe” into allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against the Group, within two months.
Now, 18 months later, SEBI has revealed that a critical investigation, likely regarding whether Adani violated Rule 19A relating to minimum public shareholding, remains incomplete, Ramesh said.
Buch and her husband have dismissed the charges as baseless and alleged that Hindenburg Research was attacking SEBI’s credibility and attempting a character assassination of its chief instead of replying to a showcause notice served to it for “violations in India”.
The SEBI said the allegations against the Adani Group had been “duly investigated” and its chairperson “also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest” from time to time.
The Adani Group termed the allegations malicious and based on manipulation of select public information. The company said it had no commercial relationship with the SEBI chairperson or husband.
