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

PTI New Delhi: SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch skipped a Parliament's 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 Speaker. The committee's 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 allies. Venugopal, 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 said.

Buch, 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 issue. During 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 PAC's remit. With the BJP-led 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 appear. He then called off the meeting amid continuous protests by the ruling alliance members. As the committee met first at 11 am, heated words were exchanged between the two sides.

Venugopal read out from Buch's letter to him amid the din and immediately postponed the proceedings. He told reporters that the panel received a communication from Buch at 9.30 am stating that she and her team would not be able to appear before the panel due to "exigencies". Venugopal indicated his disapproval of her decision, noting that Buch had confirmed her presence after her earlier request for an exemption was denied. "Considering a woman's request, we thought it better to postpone today's meeting for another day," he said, even as NDA MPs stayed put at the venue.