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Informist, Tuesday, Sep 10, 2024

 

--M&M denies Congress party allegations on conflict of interest

--M&M denies it benefitted from any SEBI order

--M&M: Have not asked SEBI for any preferential treatment

--M&M: Hired Dhaval Buch 3 yrs before Madhabi Buch became SEBI chief

--M&M says hired Dhaval Buch for supply chain, sourcing expertise

 

MUMBAI – Dhaval Buch, the husband of Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, was hired by the Mahindra group in 2019 for his expertise in supply chain and sourcing after he retired as Unilever's global chief procurement officer, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said in a stock exchange filing today. The statement was in response to the Congress party's allegations that the company received preferential treatment from SEBI because of its connections with the chairperson's husband.

 

The company termed the allegations as false and misleading. It said that in the Mahindra group, Dhaval Buch "has spent most of his time at Bristlecone, a subsidiary which is a supply chain consulting company... (and) is currently on the board of Bristlecone".

 

The company further said that Dhaval Buch joined the Mahindra group almost three years before his wife was appointed as the SEBI chairperson, and that the compensation paid to him "has been specifically and only for Mr. Buch's supply chain expertise and management acumen, based on his global experience at Unilever".

 

Madhabi Puri Buch has been SEBI chairperson from Mar 2, 2022. Prior to that, she was a whole-time member at SEBI from Apr 5, 2017, to Oct 4, 2021, as per information from SEBI's website.

 

Mahindra and Mahindra said that at no point did it seek preferential treatment from SEBI. None of the five SEBI orders or approvals referenced in the Congress party's allegations "are relevant", the company said. It added that three out of the five cases did not pertain to the company or any of its subsidiaries, one was a fast-track rights issues which did not require any approval from SEBI, and one was a March 2018 order when Dhaval Buch was not working with the Mahindra Group.

 

Earlier today, the Congress party alleged that Dhaval Buch received 47.8 mln rupees "as income in a personal capacity from the Mahindra & Mahindra Group". The political party, which has levied serious allegations of conflict of interest on the part of SEBI Chairperson Buch in the last one week, also said that Agora Advisory, in which she holds 99% stake and which has been actively providing advisory and consultancy services, received payments of 29.5 mln rupees from six companies from 2016-17 (Apr-Mar) to 2023-24, except in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

 

The Congress party alleged that the consulting company received 25.9 mln rupees from Mahindra & Mahindra and this accounted "for 88% of the total money that Agora Advisory received". The other five companies that availed consultancy services from Agora Advisory are "Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Pidilite, ICICI, Sembcorp, Visu Leasing & Finance", according to the political party.

 

"Any income that Ms. Madhabi Buch's Agora Advisory" received from the six companies "amounts to conflict of interest and violates" the market regulator's code of conduct for its members and chairperson with regard to potential conflict of interest, the Congress party said today.

 

At 1517 IST, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra were at 2,691.10 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, 0.7% lower than the previous close.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Rajesh Gajra

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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