Sebi chief Madhabi Puri, Dhaval Buch say I-T returns illegally obtained by fraudulent means

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her spouse Dhaval Buch issued a fresh statement over the allegations levelled by the Congress and said the charges are baseless. 

The couple issued a detailed response to the specific allegations mentioned by Congress and others. They emphasised that all claims made against them by the companies (clients of Dhaval Buch) are completely untrue, inaccurate, and driven by malicious intent.

"The allegations themselves are based on our Income Tax Returns. In other words, all these matters are a part of our income tax returns in which
all these matters have been fully disclosed and taxes have been duly paid. Shockingly, our income tax returns clearly have been obtained by adopting
fraudulent means and illegally. This is a clear breach of not only our right to privacy (which is a fundamental right) but also a violation of the Income Tax Act. The facts, transparently reflected in our income tax returns, have been twisted deliberately to create a false narrative," Buchs said in their joint statement.

Buchs added: "Going by the pattern of creating a false narrative at periodic intervals, it appears that the allegations are being made in instalments, only to keep the pot boiling. If the objective had been to arrive at the truth rather than to malign individuals and institutions with distortions of facts, we wonder why all allegations would not be brought out, in public, at one go. We would then have given all the facts at one go."

They added: "We are upright and honest professionals and have led our respective professional lives with transparency and dignity, earning an unblemished record. Though everyone can see a clear pattern emerging to distort and twist the facts, we are confident that we will be able to demolish all such motivated allegations even in future, while reserving our right to take appropriate legal remedy as we may be advised."

The series of allegations started with a report by Hindenburg Research, where the US-based short-seller leveled numerous accusations against the market regulatory body and its principal asseverating that they had investments in overseas funds that were affiliated with the Adani group.

Furthermore, the report insinuated a correlation between Dhaval Buch's tenure as a consultant at Blackstone and the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) role in advocating for, endorsing, and streamlining significant modifications to Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) regulations. 

These modifications encompassed the issuance of seven consultation papers, three comprehensive updates, the introduction of two fresh regulatory frameworks, and the allocation of nomination privileges for unit holders. According to the report, these alterations were tailored to specifically benefit private equity entities such as Blackstone.

Later, Congress party spokesperson Pawan Khera made an allegation against Buch suggesting that she was still receiving a salary from ICICI Bank while at Sebi. Khera emphasized that this alleged situation presented a significant lapse in ethical standards and public accountability.

In response to these allegations, ICICI clarified that Madhabi Buch did not in fact receive any salary or ESOPs following her retirement in October 2013, apart from the regular retiral benefits. Sebi or Buchs did not directly respond to the allegations.