Cong Claims SEBI Chief's Consultancy & Spouse Earned Crores From M&M, ICICI, DRL, Pidilite

Congress has thrown more allegations against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, accusing her of financial conflict of interest and willful concealment. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that Buch’s company, Agora Advisory Private Limited, which was allegedly declared dormant after she joined SEBI, earned ₹2.95 crore via consultancies from companies like M&M, ICICI, Dr. Reddy’s, Pidilite, Sembcorp and Visu Leasing. All the six companies named by Congress are listed in the stock market. The fees, Congress says, was paid to Agora Advisory during Madhabi Buch's tenure, first as a whole-time member of SEBI and then the regulatory body's chairperson. Buch, according to Congress, owns 99% of the advisory firm. Notably, 88% of the ₹2.95 crore income came from M&M. Additionally, Khera revealed that Buch’s husband, Dhaval Buch, received ₹4.78 crore in personal income from M&M while Madhabi Buch was the SEBI Chief. Khera called this a clear conflict of interest and a case of deliberate financial concealment. This is the third round of accusations against Buch by Congress in the past few days. M&M has meanwhile called the allegations false and misleading in nature. The company said it had hired Dhaval Buch in 2019 specifically for his expertise in supply chain and sourcing and pointed out that he had joined Mahindra Group almost 3 years before Madhabi Puri Buch was appointed as SEBI Chairperson. M&M pointed out that compensation was given to Dhaval Buch specifically and only for his supply chain expertise and management acumen, based on his global experience at Unilever.