On Thursday, Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch skipped a meeting called by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to look after the functioning of the regulatory body, citing pressing reasons. PAC chairperson and Congress leader KC Venugopal postponed the meeting which led to a war of words with the BJP members on the panel who accused him of taking unilateral decisions.
The PAC had asked for a Buch today for a review and functioning of Sebi amid allegations of conflict of interest levelled by US-based short-seller Hindenburg. She also faced accusations of holding an office of profit at ICICI, a charge firmly rejected by the bank. The Congress had sought her removal.
“In the first committee meeting itself, we decided to have a review of our regulatory bodies. We called a meeting today for the review of Sebi. We sent a notice to the concerned people. They sought an exemption from the meeting, which we refused. After that, she confirmed that she and her team would be present in front of the committee,” Venugopal told reporters.
“But at 9.30 am today, we got information from the Sebi chief and other members that she is not in a position to travel to Delhi due to a personal emergency. Considering that the request was made by a woman, we decided to postpone today’s meeting for another date,” he said.
NDA MPs present in meeting alleged that the conduct of Venugopal was unparliamentary. Panel member and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Venugopal of taking suo motu decisions. He also said that several PAC members, including those from the BJP and its alliance partners, were approaching Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Venugopal’s conduct.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, wrote to the Speaker against Venugopal, accusing the Congress leader of raking up “non-existent” issues to defame the central government.
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