Public Accounts Committee member and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has accused the chairman of the panel, Congress MP K C Venugopal, of raising non-existing issues only with the aim of defaming the centre and weakening financial structure and economy of the country. Dubey, an MP from the Saugor constituency, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on September 9 alleging that Venugopal had misused his position to bypass the remit of the PAC and worked as part of a "tool kit" to damage the economy after reports that the committee might summon SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, who has been accused of professional impropriety by US-based firm Hindenburg Research. Incidentally, the PAC decided on October 4 to summon Buch for deposition on October 24. Dubey charged Venugopal with "unconstitutional and contemptible" conduct. He claimed that political considerations were dictating the course of action of the chairperson of the committee after the Congress was "forced" by voters to sit in the opposition benches following the Lok Sabha polls. There was no immediate reaction from the senior Congress leader.
The Congress handpicked Venugopal to devise ways and means to rake up those issues that exist only in his imagination, with the sole intention of defaming the government and destabilising the financial structure and the economy, BJP MP alleged.
Dubey said several countries which cannot digest India's growth are on the trajectory of becoming the third-largest economy of the world, actually devised a "tool kit" to defame it by attacking its financial structure and the economy by dubbing important organisations like SEBI as corrupt. Claiming that unverified allegations by a foreign company like Hindenburg against Buch were part of such a campaign, he alleged that the "India Chapter" of this toolkit has become active. "It used its position as is presently being used by K C Venugopal in the capacity of Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, to further defame the Government and damage the financial prospects of our economy.". "This time, too, unsubstantiated allegations have been levelled against the SEBI chief by a foreign entity, viz., Hindenburg Research, notorious for targeting business houses, important functionaries, and financial institutions of the country," Dubey told Birla.
His strongly worded communication is a clear pointer that the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, which happens to be in a majority in the committee, would probably resist any more move by Venugopal to put the regulator in a spot, signifying that its meetings over the issue would be stormy.
According to Dharmendra Pradhan, they believe that the action of Venugopal is unconstitutional and disdainful, announcing an inquiry against the SEBI Chief by the Committee, which is against the constitutional provisions and is against parliamentary rules in clear violation. "I request your goodself to restrain Mr K.C. Venugopal not to play at the hands of the aforementioned 'tool kit' and misuse his position as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee," Dubey told the Speaker. Referring to the rules, BJP member stated that the sole function of the Public Accounts Committee is confined to scrutinizing the appropriation accounts of the Government of India and reports of Comptroller and Auditor General of India. He noted that neither the CAG has put any report on the SEBI head's conduct nor this facet of the market regulator has any connection to the appropriation accounts of the Government of India.
This committee, he alleged, has been constructed a "surreptitious tool kit of some countries, inimical to the galloping strides which India has witnessed during the last decade under the exemplary leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources said the committee had asked for the chairperson of SEBI, but the regulatory body of capital markets hadn't confirmed by Sunday evening if she would appear personally or send her representative to plead her case. Hindenburg, which last year accused the Adani Group of fraud and stock manipulation, recently accused Buch of conflict of interest as it sought to question the SEBI's probe into the allegations against the business conglomerate. Buch has denied any wrongdoing.
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