The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has announced that it will review the operations of the country’s leading regulatory authorities. To facilitate this, the committee has summoned the heads of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for deposition on October 24.
Additionally, top officials from the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and the Ministry of Communications are also required to appear before the committee, reported PTI. Sources indicate in the report that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and TRAI Chairperson Anil Kumar Lahoti are expected to appear before the panel.
The report states that an unwritten convention in parliamentary practice requires heads of institutions to attend briefings with parliamentary panels when summoned.
This meeting of the key parliamentary committee takes place amid significant controversy surrounding allegations made by the U.S. research firm Hindenburg against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, regarding their purported connections to the Adani Group.
“Briefing by Audit followed by Oral evidence of the representatives of Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on the subject, ‘Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament’,” the official agenda for the October 24 meeting of the PAC said.
“Oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the subject, ‘Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament’,” it also said.
In August, the Congress party organised nationwide protests in response to Hindenburg’s allegations against SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch. Both have denied any wrongdoing. The party has also called for her resignation.
Hindenburg’s report claimed that the Buchs held stakes in offshore entities connected to the Adani Group’s alleged financial irregularities. Additionally, the report criticised SEBI for showing a lack of interest in pursuing charges against Adani despite the serious nature of its earlier findings. Both the Adani Group and the Buchs have firmly denied these allegations.
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