NEW DELHI: The Lokpal has asked Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra to rectify certain errors in her complaint filed last month against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch, accusing her of improper conduct and engaging in quid pro quo arrangements that allegedly threaten India’s national interests.
Though she had complained to Lokpal against Buch on September 11, the TMC MP again wrote to the ombudsman on October 15, saying that the affidavit had been filed in compliance with Lokpal’s order dated September 20, 2024.
Moitra alleged that these were delaying tactics on part of the ombudsman.
The development has come even as the head of the markets regulator is set to appear before the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday. The panel, which scrutinises the audit reports of various government projects and schemes, is headed by Congress MP KC Venugopal.
The full bench of the anti-corruption ombudsman led by Lokpal Justice AM Khanvilkar on October 17 directed Moitra to rectify errors in her complaint against Buch, so that it can be taken up during the next hearing due on November 8.
The Lokpal bench pointed out to Moitra that a signed notarised affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper was not been enclosed with her complaint, while the affidavit was given on a plain paper.
The ombudsman further said that the statement of allegations enclosed with the complaint was not signed by her.
Moitra accused the ombudsman of delaying the matter by pointing out mistakes in her complaint.
“So I filed my 2nd reply to Lokpal India on my Ms. Buch complaint (they’re putting burden of proof on me before Oct 17th full bench hearing & this is the new delay now. In the interest of transparency,” she said in a post on X on October 22, enclosing the copy of her complaint against Buch and the errors pointed out by the Lokpal in her complaint.
Last month, Moitra had filed a complaint against the SEBI chairperson with the Lokpal, adding that the ombudsman should forward it to the ED or CBI for preliminary probe followed by a “full FIR enquiry”.
“Every single entity involved needs to be summoned and every link investigated,” she had added.
Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-shelling firm, had first levelled the allegation of conflict of interest against Buch. She had categorically denied the allegation.
The complaint by Moitra, filed on September 11, had accused Buch of improper conduct and engaging in quid pro quo arrangements that allegedly threaten India’s national interests.
In her complaint, Moitra labelled Buch as a “serial offender” and alleged impropriety during her tenure as a public servant.
The complaint referred to Buch’s appointment as a whole-time member of SEBI from April 2017 to October 2021 and her subsequent elevation to chairperson in March 2022.
The TMC MP’s complaint cites allegations made by Hindenburg Research, a US-based firm, on August 10, 2024. These allegations questioned SEBI’s handling of investigations into the Adani Group’s offshore shareholders and suggested potential conflicts of interest.