Madhabi Puri Buch, the chief of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has denied any irregularities in her conduct in the wake of the explosive Hindenburg Report. On Sunday, she said that the allegations are baseless. She accused the Report of casting aspersions and hurling insinuations at her.
"All disclosures as required have already been furnished to the SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we would be issuing a detailed statement in due course," Madhabi Puri and her husband, Dhaval Buch, have said.
As per commentators, the Hindenburg has a personal attack to discredit the SEBI chairperson with an ulterior motive. Recently, the SEBI served Hindenburg a show-cause notice for trading in Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) immediately before and after releasing its report on Adani Group in January last year.
Does the Report offer any evidence to back its allegations?
"There is no evidence anywhere in the Report to back the claim that the SEBI Chairperson took any bribes. Routine investment instruments have been sensationalised in the Report to create an impression of ill-gotten and opaque wealth," said Jai Anant Dehadrai, a Criminal Lawyer. "The Report tries to spin the illusion that the mere existence of an offshore entity implies that some criminal activity has taken place," he further opines.