SEBI has abandoned autonomy, brushing allegations under carpet: TMC leader

SEBI accused of losing autonomy, brushing BJP-related violations under the carpet, facing allegations of stock market manipulation.

The Stock Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is in the centre of a storm following multiple allegations being levelled against its chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, has "completely abandoned its autonomy", Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said on Friday (September 13, 2024).

Also read: ‘All allegations are false, malicious, and motivated’

As opposition parties continued their attack against the SEBI chief, the TMC leader said any violations that involved the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), like the allegations of a stock market manipulation through exit polls, are being "brushed under the carpet" by the board. 

“SEBI has now completely abandoned its autonomy and is functioning solely on the orders of the ruling party BJP... Therefore, any violation that involves the BJP, like the alleged stock market exit poll scam, is brushed under the carpet,” Gokhale told PTI. 

The TMC was the first opposition party to approach the SEBI, demanding a probe over allegations of stock market manipulations through exit polls after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared. 

On June 13, TMC's Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien had written to the board seeking an appointment for a delegation of party leaders to meet Buch. 

A delegation of TMC comprising MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale, as well as Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant and NCP (SP) leader Vidya Chavan, had on June 18 submitted a letter to the SEBI demanding a probe in the allegations of stock market manipulation.