The Delhi High Court has spoken about the allegations leveled by former Union minister Subramanian Swamy against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch.
Madhabi Puri Buch is not named as a party in the PIL filed by Swamy. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made this remark while disposing of Swamy's petition. Swamy had alleged in his petition that Madhabi had earlier been involved in the Axis-Max Life deal. This scam was said to be worth about Rs 5,100 crore.
Swamy had filed an affidavit in the court on March 13, 2024 in this case and alleged that Buch had held both the posts of Additional Director and Director in Max Healthcare Institute Limited. The tenure was between 4 February 2015 to 3 April 2017. Due to Madhabi Poor Buch's old association with the company, SEBI did not immediately investigate the allegations of fraud.
At the same time, the court said, in his petition against Madhabi Puri Buch, Swamy has made only personal allegations against her. But Swamy has neither amended his writ nor included Madhabi as a party. The court said in its order that the SEBI Chairperson cannot be removed from the post of SEBI chief on the ground that he had professional relations with Max Group in the past. It is the duty to decide this matter according to the law. The court said in its order that if SEBI's decision is in any way influenced or affected by the alleged past business relations of its chairman, then the petitioner is entitled to litigate the said matter at this stage.