'Conflict Of Interest Between Sebi And ICICI': Congress Makes New Allegations Against Madhabi Puri Buch

The Congress party alleged earlier today, 7 September, that current Sebi chairperson has received salaries and ESOPs from ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential even as she was a whole time member of Sebi and then its chairperson.

At a press briefing, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera claimed that in all, Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch received Rs 16.8 crore from ICICI Bank 2017 and 2024.

Khera further alleged that several investigations involving ICICI Bank were underway while Buch was receiving income from the group, citing unnamed reports that suggest the SEBI chief may have relaxed norms for the bank.

This allegation of the Congress comes days after American short-seller Hindenburg claimed in a post that the Sebi chairman Madhabi Buch and her husband had unscrupulous links with the Adani group. This was followed by an immediate, short denial by Buch and her husband and a detailed rebuttal came later. 

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had released a video statement soon after the Hindenburg report came out. In the video, he spoke about the 'Umpire being compromised' and asked why Buch had not resigned from her post as yet. Pawan Khera too demanded too that Buch step down while alleging that the 'main players in this game of chess' were Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.