Congress reiterates demand for probe into Hindenburg charges against SEBI chief

Union minister Giriraj Singh attacked the Congress and said the strictest action would be taken against Hindenburg Research for defaming India

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday reiterated the demand for a probe into US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research allegations that Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had a stake in obscure offshore entities used in “the Adani money siphoning scandal” while demanding the resignation of the chief of the stock market regulator to restore its integrity.

Madhabi Puri Buch denied the allegations saying they were “devoid of any truth”. (PTI)

“The Supreme Court, empowered by the Constitution, must transfer the investigation to the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] or a Special Investigation Team (SIT) given the likelihood of SEBI’s compromise. At a minimum, the SEBI Chairperson must resign to restore SEBI’s integrity,” he said.

Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch denied the allegations saying they were “devoid of any truth”. The Adani Group called the charges “malicious, mischievous, and manipulative selections of publicly available information”.

Ramesh claimed the Adani “MegaScam” extends beyond the 24 matters under SEBI’s investigation. He added It encompasses the source of the ₹20,000 crore benami funds invested in the Adani Group, the over-invoicing of thousands of crores in coal and power equipment, and the laundering of those proceeds.

“Additionally, it involves the granting of monopolies to the Adani Group in critical infrastructure sectors, and the manipulation of Indian foreign policy to secure Adani assets in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.... The path forward is to immediately convene a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the full extent of the Modani MegaScam involving the self-anointed non-biological PM and a perfectly biological businessman.”

Union minister Giriraj Singh attacked the Congress and said the strictest action would be taken against Hindenburg. “Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh are a gang that wants to defame our country. Hindenburg is also defaming us. We would not tolerate the defamation of our country. They are enemies of the nation. Strictest action will be taken against Hindenburg.”

Ramesh said the Supreme Court in March 2023 directed SEBI to “expeditiously conclude the investigation” into allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against the Adani Group within two months. “But eighteen months later, SEBI has revealed that a critical investigation, likely regarding whether Adani violated Rule 19A relating to minimum public shareholding, remains incomplete. The fact is that the SEBI’s seeming inability to close two of its 24 investigations delayed the publication of its findings for over a year,” he said.

“This delay conveniently allowed the Prime Minister to navigate an entire general election without addressing his role in facilitating his close friend’s illicit activities.” He said SEBI, long considered a trustworthy global financial market regulator, is now under scrutiny.

“It is shocking to discover that the SEBI Chairperson and her husband invested in the same opaque Bermuda- and Mauritius-based offshore funds where Vinod Adani and his close associates, Chang Chung-Ling and Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli, also invested. These funds were managed by Anil Ahuja, a close friend of the Buchs and an independent director in Adani Enterprises until May 31, 2017, a period that overlapped with the SEBI Chairperson’s earlier tenure as a Whole-Time Member of SEBI.”

He asked if these conflicts of interest explain the prolonged investigation, a delay that has benefited both Adani and the Prime Minister while damaging SEBI’s reputation. “How can a match proceed if the umpire herself is compromised?”

Rashtriya Janata Dal lawmaker Manoj Jha also demanded Madhabi Puri Buch’s resignation. “...the government should have asked for the resignation of the person concerned and announced an investigation. It amounts to rigging your whole system. You cannot sit there. ...to maintain investors’ trust in the country’s economic systems, a JPC should be immediately executed.”