New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP’s complaint against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch is insufficient to initiate Lokpal probe. The corruption probe body said the complaint alleging misbehaviour and conflict of interest failed to convince it to order a probe. Deciding on two complaints from different individuals based on a report by US-based Hindenburg Research, the Lokpal asked the complainants to file affidavits.
In this, these complainants have to give details of the efforts made by them to verify the authenticity of the claims made in the recent report of Hindenburg Research published on August 10, 2024. The Lokpal also asked them to clarify the allegations against the ‘person concerned’, which may amount to the offence of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, according to the Lokpal’s order of September 20. Hindenburg Research had alleged in its report that Buch and her husband had stakes in unexplained foreign funds used in the alleged Adani money laundering scam.
Buch and her husband denied the allegations, and said Hindenburg Research was attempting to assassinate the capital market regulator’s credibility and character. The Adani Group also called Hindenburg Research’s allegations malicious and selectively manipulated public information. “SEBI has surprisingly shown no interest in Adani’s alleged undisclosed web of Mauritian and offshore shell entities,” Hindenburg had said 18 months after its first report on Adani.
While considering the complaint of a sitting MP (Lok Sabha), the Lokpal said, “The complaint fails to enable us to form a firm opinion that a prima facie case is made out as per Section 20 of the (Lokpal) Act 2013, which requires a direction for a preliminary inquiry or investigation to proceed in the matter. More particularly for the same reasons and arguments stated (in the first complaint). Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra wrote in a post on ‘X’ on September 13 that she has filed a complaint with the Lokpal against the SEBI chief. The Lokpal asked the complainants to clearly state the allegations against the person concerned which may constitute an ‘offence of corruption’ as per the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Lokpal has listed these cases for further consideration on October 17, 2024.
