Questions the PAC would like to ask SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch

While she has defended her conduct by claiming that she transferred her shares to her husband, government rules prohibit parents, spouses, children and even in-laws from owning shares, which could lead to conflict of interest for SEBI’s full-time members. SEBI’s own rules for brokers, influencers and intermediaries are stricter and more restrictive than those Buch allowed itself.

A Lok Sabha bulletin dated September 2 had informed that the PAC had selected 160 issues for deliberation during its tenure. The topics were decided during the PAC’s first meeting on August 29. The 22-member committee comprises 12 members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and eight opposition MPs, including four from Congress.

The panel has selected five topics for it so motu research, including “performance assessment of regulatory bodies established by law” and “imposition and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges, etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities”. Under the first topic, various regulatory authorities can be assessed, including bodies like SEBI and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The second topic, ‘imposition and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges, etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities’, will highlight highways, railway stations and airports. The Congress had alleged that the government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was favoring the Adani Group in managing airports across India.

Currently seven airports: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai; Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad; Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow; Mangaluru International Airport; Jaipur International Airport; Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati; and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport – are managed by the Adani Group. The group’s airport operations are managed by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, and are said to handle 23 percent of India’s total passenger traffic.