Hindenburg questions SEBI chief's silence on fresh charges
New Delhi (PTI): US-based short seller Hindenburg Research has questioned SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch's "complete silence" on fresh allegations of impropriety, conflict of interest and accepting payments from companies while serving as a member of the market regulator.
Hindenburg, which had in January 2023 accused Adani Group of using tax havens to sidestep local market regulations, had last month alleged that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Buch's previous investments and dealings may be behind the slow probe against the conglomerate.
While Buch and the Adani Group had denied last month's allegations, the opposition Congress party has in recent days made a series of allegations against Buch including holding 99 per cent shares in a company "actively providing advisory/consultancy services till date" and her husband Dhaval Buch earning income from companies that were being adjudicated by her.
Buch, who has so far not responded to the allegations, on Thursday cancelled her appearance at the NaBFID Infrastructure Conclave in Mumbai. She was listed as a keynote speaker at the conclave.
"New allegations have emerged that the private consulting entity, 99 per cent owned by SEBI Chair Madhabi Buch, accepted payments from multiple listed companies regulated by SEBI during her time as SEBI Whole-Time Member. The companies include: Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Dr. Reddy's and Pidilite," Hindenburg said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
These allegations, it said, "apply to Buch's Indian consulting entity with no details thus far on Buch's Singapore-based consulting entity."
"Buch has maintained her complete silence for weeks on all of the emerging issues," it added.
Hindenburg had on August 11 alleged that Buch had previous investments in an offshore fund, also used by the Adani Group.
Buch and her husband had denied those allegations.
Since then, Congress and Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra have levelled charges against them but they have not responded so far.
Congress has alleged that Dhaval Buch earned Rs 4.78 crore from Mahindra Group at a time when the regulator was investigating it for market infractions.
Responding to the allegation, Mahindra & Mahindra has stated that the "Group hired Dhaval Buch in 2019 specifically for his expertise in supply chain and sourcing, soon after he retired as Unilever's Global Chief Procurement Officer."
It said he joined Mahindra Group almost 3 years before Madhabi Puri Buch was appointed as SEBI chairperson. "Compensation has been specifically and only for Buch's supply chain expertise and management acumen, based on his global experience at Unilever."
Prior to becoming chairperson, she was a Whole-Time Member of SEBI from April 2017.
Separately, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Pidilite Industries also stated that they had engaged the services of Dhaval Buch when his wife held second highest office at SEBI but denied allegations of any conflict.
While Dr Reddy's said it paid Rs 6.58 lakh to Buch in exchange for his services, Pidilite said that it has never been under any SEBI enquiries or orders.
Last month, Hindenburg had alleged that the Buchs opened an account in 2015 with a wealth management firm in Singapore to invest undisclosed sum of money in a Mauritius-registered offshoot of a Bermuda-based fund. The Mauritian fund was run by an Adani director and its ultimate parent was the vehicle used by two Adani associates to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices.
Hindenburg also alleged that she held 100 per cent interest in a Singaporean consulting firm, Agora Partners from April 2017 to March 2022 while she was a Whole-Time Member in SEBI. She passed on the shares to her husband two weeks after her appointment as the SEBI chairperson.
Responding, the Buchs had called Hindenburg's latest tirade an attack on the credibility of SEBI and attempted "character assassination".
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
