SEBI chief should have recused herself from Adani investigation, say experts

A day after Hindenburg Research alleged that Securities and Exchange Board of India chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had “hidden stakes” in offshore entities linked with the Adani Group, experts told Scroll that Buch should have recused herself from the investigation into allegations of stock price manipulation by the conglomerate.

In January 2023, US-based Hindenburg Research had accused the Adani Group of pulling off “the largest con in corporate history” through accounting fraud and money laundering using opaque offshore funds in tax havens.

A petition led the Supreme Court to appoint a panel to investigate the allegations. The panel asked the Securities and Exchanges Board of India, the stock market regulator, to examine suspected violations in foreign investments by the Adani Group. In May, the panel said that the Securities and Exchanges Board of India had “drawn a blank” in the inquiry.

In a fresh report released on Saturday, Hindenburg Research alleged that the markets regulator’s “unwillingness to take meaningful action against suspect offshore shareholders in the Adani Group may stem from Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s complicity in using the exact same funds used by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani.”

Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have denied the allegations made by Hindenburg. A statement released by them said: “All disclosures as...

Read more