SEBI employees protest at headquarters; demand Buch resignation

Mumbai: A large number of SEBI employees protested outside the capital markets regulator's headquarters on Thursday, seeking chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch's resignation.

The staffers, numbering over 200 as per an estimate, held a silent protest outside the main building in the Bandra Kurla Complex, housing Buch and other officials' offices.

None of the protesting employees spoke to the media, but a handout purported to have been drafted by the protesting officials sought the withdrawal of a press release issued by SEBI on Wednesday and also Buch's resignation.

The protesting employees assembled in front of the building and were seen standing there for about 90 minutes before dispersing.

For Puri, protests and internal issues have come at a time when she is probably facing the most challenging times in her stint. The career banker-turned-regulator is battling speculations on whether a conflict of interest made her go slow on the probe against Adani Group and a raft of other allegations around it.

This is not the first instance of a protest at the SEBI, which witnessed a similar protest over a month ago by some employees. At that time, officials had said that the protests were by a few elements and do not have the backing of the recognised unions or associations.

In what is unprecedented for any financial regulator, around 500 employees are reported to have written to the Finance Ministry on August 6 against the top management for what they called a "toxic" work environment, which includes instances of public humiliation and shouting down.

After the publishing of a media report about the letter, SEBI responded with a press release, which said such claims are "misplaced", which seems to have irked the employees.

The regulator said that some "external elements" had instigated its employees into believing that they shouldn't be held to high standards of performance and accountability, though, it did not provide specific details.

"The claims of unprofessional work culture in the letter dated August 6, 2024, are misplaced," SEBI said in a statement.

The regulator suspects that junior officers have been receiving messages from outside parties encouraging them to "go to the media, the Ministry, or the Board," possibly for the outsiders' own agendas.

"SEBI apprehends that the junior officers have been receiving messages from external elements outside their group, effectively instigating them to 'go to media, go to the Ministry, go to Board', perhaps to serve their own purpose. In fact, the letter of August 6, 2024, was not sent by the SEBI employee associations to the Government (and a section of the media)," the statement noted.