Hours after the Congress party made allegations against Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, Zee group founder Subhash Chandra on Monday alleged that Buch is “corrupt” and her income should be investigated by investigating agencies. “I am convinced that Sebi Chairperson is corrupt since she and her husband whose combined income was around Rs one crore per annum, before she assumed the position at Sebi, has now gone up to Rs 40-50 crore per annum,” Chandra alleged in a press statement. This needs to be investigated by media and investigating agencies, including analysis of the settled/compounded cases and the consultation fees paid by such corporates and received by Sebi Chairperson and her connected persons, he alleged. However, rejecting Chandra’s allegations outright, a Sebi official said, “these are opportunistic comments and completely baseless.” The market regulator is investigating an alleged fund diversion by Chandra and his son Punit Goenka who is also the MD and CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In a confirmatory order in August 2023, Sebi barred both of them from holding key positions in four group firms. A Sebi investigation had found that around Rs 2,000 crore alleged fund diversion happened in Zee Entertainment. Chandra’s comments on Buch came on a day when Congress party alleged Buch of “holding an Office of Profit at ICICI Bank”, and receiving an income to the tune of Rs 16.80 crore between 2017 and 2024 after she took over as the Whole Time Member of Sebi in 2017. However, ICICI Bank said that the bank or its group companies have "not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs" to Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits. Chandra alleged that he was approached by a person named Manjit Singh on February 17 2024. Singh promised that the work will be done through Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband and all issues of Sebi will be resolved for a price, Chandra alleged. “However, on looking at the latest Hindenburg and ICICI Bank revelations against Madhabi Puri Buch and her connected persons, it seems that the person who approached me may have been right. May be this was the modus operandi in various cases, which have got settled/adjudicated through compounding with light touch,” he said. Chandra alleged that former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar paid hefty sums of money to Buch when she was the Whole Time Member of the Sebi, “It was Chanda Kochhar and her husband; and Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband working in tandem, hence Madhabi Puri Buch was paid hefty sums of money by ICICI while she was the Whole Time Member at Sebi,” Chandra alleged. The Zee patriarch further alleged that “Sebi has not been acting in the interest of investors of ZEE Entertainment”. “ZEE-Sony merger was progressing well and they had got Sebi/ stock exchange approval. Despite the same, Sebi instructed BSE/ NSE to intervene in NCLT proceedings and scuttle the merger by spooking Sony. Ultimately the merger was terminated by Sony which resulted in erosion of huge wealth of minority shareholders,” Chandra alleged. “I have taken a decision not to co-operate with Sebi any further in my personal capacity,” Chandra said.
