Congress' K C Venugopal Led PAC Meeting Postponed After SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch Skips It Citing 'Personal Exigency'

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Thursday (24 October) postponed its meeting after SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch conveyed her inability to attend citing a personal emergency.

“In the first meeting of the committee itself, we decided to have a suo moto subject for review of our regulatory bodies. That is why we called for a review of SEBI this morning. The committee branch sent the notice to the concerned people," committee chairperson K C Venugopal said after the meeting, Hindustan Times reported.

"First of all, they sought an exemption, SEBI chairperson sought an exemption from appearing before the committee which we denied. After that, she confirmed she and her team would be present on this committee. …Today morning, at 9:30 am, she [SEBI chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch] informed me that due to a personal exigency she is unable to travel to Delhi. Considering a woman’s request, we thought that it is better to postpone today’s meeting for another day,” Venugopal added.

Following the postponement, BJP MP and PAC member Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised the decision to summon Buch, asserting that Venugopal’s decision was taken "suo moto."

“This is a very big issue. His [Venugopal’s] words were ‘suo moto’ decided’. How did you decide? PAC’s work is to deliberate over CAG report. We have also got information from trusted sources that there is no paragraph over SEBI in CAG report,” Prasad said.

Several BJP MPs and PAC members, including Nishikant Dubey, Jagdambika Pal, Aparajita Sarangi, and Tejasvi Surya, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to discuss the matter following the adjourned meeting.

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