Hindenburg allegations: TMC demands suspension of SEBI chairperson; JPC, SC-monitored probe

Kolkata/New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) The TMC Sunday demanded the suspension of SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch and a probe by a JPC as well as one monitored by the Supreme Court into allegations by Hindenburg Research that she and her husband had stakes in offshore funds linked to the Adani group.

In its latest report, US short-seller Hindenburg Research has accused the two of having undisclosed investments in obscure offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius, the same entities allegedly used by Vinod Adani -- the elder brother of group chairman Gautam Adani -- to round-trip funds and inflate the Adani Group's stock prices.

"The SEBI chief should be suspended in no time, and lookout notices must be issued to all airports to prevent her and her husband from leaving the country," senior TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said in Kolkata.

The head of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has termed the allegation "baseless" while Adani Group said it never had any commercial relations with Buch.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, "One simple point - Chairperson who has invested in (& interacted personally with) very same funds that need investigating, is leading organization entrusted with fiduciary responsibility of finding out other owners of the fund tells Supreme Court & its 6 member committee that it had "drawn a blank" & was a "chicken and egg situation" in its investigation into the "ownership" of 13 entities. What greater conflict of interest and mockery of justice is there?" she said on X.

In Delhi, TMC's Parliamentary Party Leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien said the TMC wants a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee as well one monitored by the Supreme Court.

"In the past, the Trinamool Congress has almost always preferred the option of a Supreme Court-monitored probe to unearth the truth. Now, in the changed circumstances, an SIT must be set up. Also, a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). Before June, 2024, a JPC would have been futile because of how the BJP had diminished Parliament.

"But this situation is extraordinary. The BJP is clearly on the backfoot in Parliament. We need both. Bring on a JPC as well as an SC-monitored probe. Both." PTI PNT AO TIR TIR