The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Leader of opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a new video released on Tuesday (October 29) has gone beyond his party’s accusations of conflict of interest against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government were protecting her to safeguard the interests of an alleged government-industry nexus that may directly impact the interests of small investors.
The video, released on Tuesday, is the latest in a series that began on Saturday, in which Gandhi alleged that a “Monopoly Bachao Syndicate” was at play that included a nexus between the Adani group, market regulator SEBI and the ruling BJP.
“In whichever sector Adani wants, the syndicate works to give him a monopoly,” wrote Gandhi on X while posting a video.
In Tuesday’s video, Gandhi and Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera are seen talking about how the Adani Defence website allegedly shows how the company has taken an Israeli company’s website, called it Adani Defence “put new labels on it” and become “the number one sales” for defence.
“He just makes the nameplates,” alleges Gandhi in the video. “He has literally taken the Israeli weapon, maybe assembling it and Adani gets the commission directly and the BJP gets the commission.”
In another video released by the party on Monday, the Congress accused Buch of “protecting Adani’s money”.
“It is clear that Butch is protecting Adani’s money, his valuation and reputation, but who is protecting Butch and why?” wrote Gandhi on X while sharing the conversation between him and Khera.
Khera also levelled a new round of allegations against Buch at a press conference on Tuesday, accusing her of conflict of interest. The party alleged that Buch rented one of her properties to Green World Buildcon and Infra Private Limited, a company owned by individuals associated with Indiabulls group.
“Indiabulls Group, where Mukul Bansal has been involved, has faced several cases with SEBI, with multiple adjudication orders and regulatory actions between 2021 and 2022. Legal Involvement: Besides SEBI actions, the company has also been involved in cases before other regulators and courts, and SEBI has provided affidavits in those cases,” the party statement said.
Khera also alleged that Buch has been associated with Predible Health Private Limited – a start-up company which received funds under the Startup India initiative of the Government of India. Khera in his briefing said that Buch held equity in it, and she continued to hold shares in the company even after becoming a whole time member of SEBI.
The Congress also alleged that Jacesa Investments Limited, which is based out of St. Vincent and The Grenadines invested in Predible Health Private Limited, and is listed in offshore leaks by Paradise Papers shared by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Khera also alleged that Ananth Narayan Gopalkrishnan, who became a whole time member of SEBI on October 10, 2022, rented out his property in Mumbai to a stockbroker hired by a brokerage firm called IMC India Securities, which is regulated by SEBI, and received Rs 64.8 lakhs in rent.
The party posed a series of questions and asked, “Why did Madhabi Puri Buch rent out her property to a company associated with Indiabulls, which is not only regulated by SEBI but is under SEBI’s scanner for various cases? Why did [she] hold shares in a conflicted entity that has its connections to the Paradise Papers? Why did WTM [whole time member] Ananth Narayan rent out his property to a stockbroker? Why does he hold shares in a company that is a major financial service provider regulated by SEBI?”
Buch has been at the centre of a series of allegations after US short-seller Hindenburg Research – whose report on the Adani group last year alleged price rigging of company shares – accused the SEBI chief and her spouse of having held “stakes in both the obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal,” citing “whistleblower documents” on August 10.
Since then the Congress has levelled a series of allegations against Buch which have been denied by the SEBI chief as “incorrect, motivated and defamatory”.