SEBI chief Buch 'unable' to attend, PAC meet pushed; chairperson Venugopal under fire

After the PAC meeting was postponed, its 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, are approaching LS Speaker Om Birla against Venugopal's conduct.

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Thursday did not appear before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee citing personal reasons, prompting panel chairman KC Venugopal to postpone the sitting, a decision that attracted the ire of the ruling NDA MPs.

Buch, who is under the eye of a controversy over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg, and other SEBI officials were summoned as part of the “performance review of regulatory bodies established by Act of Parliament”.

After informing the panel about the absence of Buch and other officials, sources said Venugopal announced the postponement of the morning session of the multi-party panel’s meeting. As he walked away, the ruling NDA members raised objections about the senior Congress MP’s decision and later complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

However in the afternoon as scheduled earlier, the PAC again met to hear the views of TRAI representatives. But, sources said, the NDA MPs raised the SEBI issue again and demanded a vote on selecting subjects, a demand which Venugopal rejected saying a decision has been taken already.

They argued that SEBI officials cannot be called without a reference by the CAG. However, sources said, Venugopal was of the view that SEBI officials were summoned earlier also by the PAC when veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi headed the panel. As NDA members insisted on voting on subject selection, Venugopal adjourned the meeting.

Venugopal told reporters the PAC had in the first meeting in late August had decided to review the working of regulatory bodies and that was why SEBI officials were sent notices for appearing before the panel.

“First, they sought exemption, the SEBI chairperson sought an exemption from appearing before the committee, which we denied. After that, she confirmed she and her team would be present. Today at 9:30 AM, we got a communication from the SEBI chairperson that because of a personal exigency, she is unable to travel to Delhi,” he said.

“Considering her request, we thought that it is better to postpone today's meeting for another day,” Venugopal told reporters while adding that he took that decision because she is a woman and cited some personal reasons for not appearing before the panel.

After meeting the Speaker, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said they have serious reservations about the procedure adopted in the PAC meeting.

“The chairperson’s conduct, the way he did not allow us to speak is unparliamentary and politically motivated. We were in the majority in the PAC. It was strange, he rose suddenly and walked away...PAC's work is to discuss the CAG reports but how did he decide to take the suo moto subject? We have information from trustworthy sources that CAG has not made any remark about SEBI in its reports,” he said.

An Opposition MP alleged that the SEBI chief expressing her inability to appear with less than two hours to go for the meeting virtually amounts to contempt of the parliamentary panel.

Earlier, the Venugopal's decision to summon Buch raised protests from the BJP with senior MP Nishikant Dubey writing to Birla, accusing the senior Congress leader of raking up "non-existent" issues to defame the union government and "destabilise" the country's financial structure and economy.