SEBI chief Buch skips PAC meeting, BJP goes to Speaker against Venugopal

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch skipped a Parliaments Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday prompting panel head K C Venugopal to postpone the sitting with NDA members accusing him of taking unilateral decisions and lodging a protest with the Lok Sabha SpeakerThe committees proceedings remained deadlocked even during its second sitting where the TRAI chairperson appeared briefly amid the NDA members persistent demand that Venugopal allow a vote on agenda items like summoning the heads of regulatory bodies an idea opposed by the MPs from the Congress and its alliesVenugopal a senior Congress member insisted that there cannot be any voting on the subjects already approved by the committee keeping open the possibility of calling Buch again sources saidBuch the sources said in one of her communications to the PAC chairperson also referred to the Hindenburg issue and made some points Some members of the committee were left surprised as the panel has so far made no official mention of the contentious issueDuring the afternoon sitting BJP member Nishikant Dubey cited parliamentary rules to move a motion to drop five of the 161 subjects selected by the committee for its annual agenda and called for a vote He said these subjects fell outside the PACs remitWith the BJPled NDA members in majority in the panel the chairperson did not allow the motion citing his powers and called the waiting Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti to appearHe then called off the meeting amid continuous protests by the ruling alliance membersAs the committee met first at 11 am heated words were exchanged between the two sides Venugopal read out from Buchs letter to him amid the din and immediately postponed the proceedingsHe later told reporters that the panel received a communication from Buch at 930 am stating that she and her team would not be able to appear before the panel due to exigenciesVenugopal indicated his disapproval of her decision noting that Buch had confirmed her presence after her earlier request for an exemption was deniedConsidering a womans request we thought it better to postpone todays meeting for another day he said even as NDA MPs stayed put at the venueBJP members accused Venugopal of not letting them put across their views They later charged him with acting in a suo motu manner suggesting that his decision to summon Buch and even some other regulatory bodies established by the acts of Parliament was his own and guided by partisan politicsPAC member and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that there are many standing committees that review the performance of various bodies eg the panel on finance scrutinises the work of the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI and the Reserve Bank of IndiaThe Communication and Information Technology panel scrutinises the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India he addedYour Venugopal own words are suo motu How did you decide The PACs job is to consider CAG reports We have this information from reliable sources that the CAG has made no mention of SEBI This entire conduct is unparliamentary The conduct of chairperson in the way he adjourned did not allow us to speak And he walked out which shows he has extraneous political considerations Prasad saidThe former law minister said the ruling National Democratic Alliance was in a majority at Thursdays meetingOur main objection was how did he Venugopal make suo motu selection of subjects without consulting other members Nobody had an inkling of the list that was prepared said Prasad flanked by other NDA members of the panelHe also objected to the PAC secretariat officials leaving the venue after Venugopal adjourned the meeting when many other members remained insideThe NDA members met Speaker Om Birla later to register their protest against VenugopalThe committees decision to include in its agenda the performance review of regulatory bodies established by legislations had invited no protest but Venugopals move to call Buch raised hackles of the BJP members as she has been at the centre of a political row ignited by US firm Hindenburgs allegations against herHindenburgs accusation of conflict of interest against Buch over the SEBIs probe into the shortsellers allegations against the Adani Group was seized upon by the Congress to seek her ouster and to attack the government giving political dimensions to the panels missive to her to appear before itPAC member and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Speaker Om Birla last month against Venugopal accusing the senior Congress leader of raking up nonexistent issues to defame the central government and allegedly destabilise the countrys financial structure and economyIn his arguments at Thursdays meeting Dubey said the five subjects which the ruling alliance members wanted dropped from the committees agenda included policy issues central welfare schemes and tax matters as these would encroach on the turfs of states and other institutions and that these do not fall under the committees purviewSome opposition members recalled the PACs summoning of the SEBI chairperson when it was headed by BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi BJP members countered that whenever there is a division in opinion voting is the way out in parliamentary bodiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever