Mumbai: SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch denied recent allegations against her on Friday, claiming that she has never dealt with any files involving Agora Advisory, Agora Partners, the Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, Alvarez and Marsal, Sembcorp, Visu Leasing, or ICICI Bank since joining the markets regulator.
The statement, issued personally, said the allegations are “completely false, malicious and defamatory”.
“All the allegations made are false, incorrect, malicious and motivated. 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,” the couple said.
They claimed that their income tax returns were obtained illegally by adopting fraud.
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“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,” the statement read.
The statement also clarified that ICICI Bank payments to Agora were interest payments on deposits and “ascribing motive to it is unfortunate and defamatory.”
This happened after Congress claimed the SEBI chief owned 99 percent of a company that supplied consulting services to the Mahindra and Mahindra group. Her spouse received Rs 4.78 crore in revenue from the conglomerate while she was adjudicating issues for the same business.
The Mahindra Group refuted the allegations, claiming that Congress’ charges were “false and misleading in nature”. Previously, US short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged Buch had a conflict of interest in SEBI’s probe into the Adani Group, an accusation both the SEBI Chairperson and her husband have refuted. The couple expressed confidence that they could ‘demolish’ the charges even in the future.
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–IANS
(photo:wikipedia)
