Indian Court Orders FIR Against Top SEBI Officials, Including Former Chief Buch

A special Anti-Corruption Court in Mumbai has directed the city’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to register a First Information Report (FIR) against top officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), including its former chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch, over allegations of stock market fraud and regulatory violations.

The order, issued on Sunday by Judge S.E. Bangar, follows a petition filed by Thane-based journalist Sapan Shrivastava, according to reports from Indian media.

Buch, who made history as SEBI’s first female chairperson, concluded her three-year tenure on February 28.

According to The Financial Express, the complaint alleges that SEBI officials enabled market manipulation and corporate fraud by allowing the listing of a company that failed to meet regulatory requirements. The petitioner claims that SEBI’s inaction led to financial fraud, insider trading, and the siphoning of public funds post-listing. 

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has also been implicated in the allegations.

Besides Buch, the complaint names SEBI Whole Time Members Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G., and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney. BSE Chairman Pramod Agarwal and CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy have also been listed as respondents.

The court has mandated the ACB to conduct an investigation and submit a status report within 30 days, Hindustan Times reported.

In a statement, SEBI claimed that the applicant is “known to be a frivolous and habitual litigant, with previous applications being dismissed by the Court, with imposition of costs in some cases.”

“Even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the  relevant point of time, the court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting any opportunity to SEBI to place the facts on record,” reads the statement.

Emphasizing that it remains committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters, SEBI said it "would be initiating appropriate legal steps to challenge this order."

The controversy surrounding Buch follows earlier allegations by the United States-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. In August last year, citing whistleblower documents, it accused Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, of having stakes in offshore funds linked to India’s Adani Group. However, both Buch and her husband, along with the Adani Group, dismissed the claims as baseless.