Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of tarnishing the institutional integrity of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to save his “crony friends”.

Notably, Congress has been demanding the resignation of SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch following a Hindenburg Research report against her last month. The US-based short seller alleged that Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in obscure offshore entities used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.

The grand old party has been alleging a conflict of interest with Madhabi Puri Buch as the chairperson of SEBI, which was assigned with the task of probing the allegations of manipulations of the share market.

Referring to the ongoing row over the SEBI chairperson’s role, the Congress chief wrote in a post on X, “The institutional integrity of SEBI as a robust Market Regulator has been tarnished by PM Narendra Modi to save his crony friends. The Mega Modi-Adani scam is being investigated by SEBI. SEBI Chairperson has multiple issues of conflict of interest.”

“Congress party has now revealed numerous such instances. Modi-Shah-led committee appointed the SEBI Chairperson. Did they deliberately appoint her to benefit their crony friends? Or were they unaware of the shady financial dealings? Are SEBI orders on regulated companies, now, contingent on the consultancy fees its Chairperson receives through a shady company? Is this ‘Na Khaunga, Na Khane Doonga’,” he asked.

Kharge, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said, “The hard-earned money of 10 crore stock market investors has been jeopardised by this ‘mega scandal’ choreographed by Modi ji.”

Earlier in the day, chairman of the Congress Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said at a press conference at the party headquarters, “The recent Hindenburg report had alleged that the SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch held 99 per cent shares in a company called ‘Agora Advisory Private Limited. Agora Advisory is a private entity incorporated on 7th May 2013. It claims to provide various types of advisory/consultancy services.”

“Although, in her response, Madhabi Buch had claimed that the two consulting firms set up by her in Singapore and India one of which is Agora Advisory Private Limited in India became immediately dormant on her appointment with SEBI, the reality is that as of 31st March 2024, she still owns 99 per cent stake in the Indian entity which has been actively providing advisory/consultancy services till date,” he said.