New Delhi. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament postponed its meeting scheduled for Thursday. In fact, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and other officials had expressed their inability to attend the meeting a few hours before its start. The PAC is headed by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, “In the very first meeting of the committee, we decided to put up a suo motu issue to review our regulatory bodies. That is why we called SEBI this morning for review. The committee branch sends notices to the concerned people. First of all the SEBI Chairman asked for exemption from appearing before the committee, which we rejected. “He then confirmed that he and his team will be present on this committee.”
Venugopal said, “Today at 9:30 am he told me that he is not in a position to come to Delhi. “Considering the request of a woman, we thought it would be better to adjourn today’s meeting to another day.”
Let us tell you that the committee is currently reviewing the performance of SEBI, and Buch was asked to appear before the panel amid allegations of conflict of interest leveled by US-based short-seller Hindenburg.
After the PAC meeting was adjourned, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad criticized Venugopal for taking a unilateral decision and said that several committee members, including the BJP and its allies, are approaching Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla regarding Venugopal’s conduct.
However, the PAC’s decision to review the performance of regulatory bodies did not face any objection. However, Venugopal’s move to call Butch has created concern among BJP members, as she has been at the center of the political controversy triggered by Hindenburg’s allegations.
The short-seller’s allegations against Butch were used by the Congress party to demand his removal and to criticize the government, adding a political dimension to the panel’s request for his presence.
PAC member BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, accusing Venugopal of raising “non-existent” issues to tarnish the reputation of the central government and “destabilize” the country’s financial structure and economy.
Dubey alleged that Venugopal’s action was politically motivated, inspired by the Congress party’s position in the opposition after the Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that the unconfirmed allegations made against Buch by a foreign company like Hindenburg were part of a larger campaign, and the ‘India chapter’ of this toolkit has been activated.