‘False, malicious and defamatory’: Madhabi Buch and husband on allegations, say complied with all required disclosures – Trade Information

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch, in a fresh statement, responded to a slew of allegations by Hindenburg against them in recent weeks, and said that the accusations are false, malicious and defamatory. The SEBI Chief said that she adhered to all disclosure and recusal guidelines set by the markets regulator. 

Earlier, Hindenburg Research and opposition political parties had criticised Madhabi Buch over alleged conflicts of interest in investigations involving Adani Group and other corporations. The allegations were also of conflict of interest with the Mahindra Group and Dr Reddy’s due to consulting fees given by these groups to Dhaval Buch.

“It is unfortunate that questions have been raised regarding the consulting assignments of Dhaval Buch and the firms Agora Advisory in India and Agora Partners in Singapore. There seems to be an assumption that when a spouse of a senior government official is appointed as an advisor, it must be attributed to factors beyond professional merit. Such assumptions overlook the strength of qualifications and expertise and reach conclusions that are most unfortunate,” the statement released on Sep 13 said. 

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Madhabi Buch and Dhaval Buch provided extensive details to reject the claims, along with statements issued by the respective companies like Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, among others. Three out of the five approvals or orders of SEBI, the statement said, do not pertain to the company or any of its subsidiaries. One was a fast-track rights issue, which did not require any approval from SEBI. One was an order issued in March 2018, well before Dhaval Buch started working with the Mahindra Group.

“Despite the transparency and professional clarity given by these organizations, it is unfortunate that the need to justify decisions taken by such respected companies, based purely on Dhaval’s expertise, has to be undertaken by them and by us,” the couple said in the statement.