‘Malicious, defamatory’: SEBI chief, husband deny Congress’ impropriety allegations
In a statement, the Buchs said the allegations were made by Congress by obtaining their income tax returns through fraudulent ways
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch on Friday (September 13) released a statement denying allegations of impropriety and conflict of interest levelled by the Congress.
Calling the allegations, “incorrect, motivated and defamatory,” the Buchs said they have been made by fraudulently obtaining the income tax returns filed by them.
‘Breach of privacy’
They said all the information has been fully disclosed and taxes have been duly paid.
"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 couple said in the statement.
Allegations levelled by Congress
The Congress recently levelled multiple allegations against Madhabi and Dhaval, alleging a conflict of interest, involving a consultancy firm related to them.
The Congress had alleged that Dhaval earned Rs 4.78 crore from Mahindra Group at a time when the regulator was investigating it for market infractions.
Buchs’ defence
According to the statement, Madhabi has never dealt with any file involving Agora Advisory, Agora Partners, the Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, Alvarez and Marsal, Sembcorp, Visu Leasing or ICICI Bank at any stage after her joining SEBI.
"The allegations are completely false, malicious and defamatory. Madhabi has complied with all the disclosure and recusal guidelines of SEBI, and in fact, maintained a proactive continuing recusal list with SEBI over and above the requirements under the guidelines," it added.
(With inputs from agencies)