'Who is behind the plan?': Rahul Gandhi's jab after SEBI chief skips PAC meeting

After Buch skipped the meeting, the panel's head KC Venugopal postponed the sitting.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch after she skipped the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament's meeting on Thursday, wondering why she was reluctant to answer the panel's questions.

Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP, Rahul Gandhi.(ANI)

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi asked who was planning to protect her from answering PAC's questions.

"Why is Madhabi Buch reluctant to answer questions before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament? Who is behind the plan to protect her from being answerable to the PAC?" the Congress leader asked.

What happened during the meeting?

After Buch skipped the meeting, the panel's head K C Venugopal postponed the sitting.

Later, ruling NDA's members accused him of making unilateral decisions, reported PTI.The committee's proceedings remained deadlocked even during its second sitting, where the TRAI chairperson appeared briefly, amid the NDA members' demand that Venugopal allow a vote on agenda items like summoning the heads of regulatory bodies.

Venugopal, a senior Congress member, insisted that there cannot be any voting on the subjects which were already approved by the committee, reported PTI.

On Thursday morning, the panel got a letter from Buch, saying that she wouldn't be able to attend the meeting because of "exigencies".

"Considering a woman's request, we thought it better to postpone today's meeting for another day," he said.

Congress attacks Centre

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Centre of using the SEBI chairperson as a "shield to hide its misdeeds".

"The PAC of Parliament has the constitutional right to summon any officer in connection with any government investigation. To safeguard the autonomy of the SEBI, to maintain the impartiality of the institution and to ensure accountability to Parliament, the SEBI chairperson will have to be answerable before the PAC," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

In August, American short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the Buch-led market regulator of not probing its allegations against the Adani Group because she allegedly had stakes in the conglomerate's offshore funds.