The court, after considering the material on record, directed the ACB Worli, Mumbai Region, to register an FIR under relevant provisions of the IPC, Prevention of Corruption Act, SEBI Act, and other applicable laws.
Buch, who is the agency’s first woman chief, had faced conflict of interest allegations by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg and also political heat thereafter.
She assumed office on March 2, 2022 and completed her three-year tenure on Friday. She was replaced by Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new Sebi Chief. Traditionally, Sebi hosts a farewell for outgoing chiefs, but no such event was held, marking an abrupt exit.
Her departure suggests Buch was unprepared for the transition—an outcome she likely did not anticipate when she took charge in 2022.
Although, Buch in her tenure made significant strides in areas like faster settlements in equities, enhanced FPI disclosures, and increasing mutual fund penetration through Rs 250 SIP, the last year of her tenure saw heightened controversy when she battled a series of allegations by Hindenburg and the Congress party, while simultaneously dealing with in-house employee protests against “toxic work culture.”
In August last year, Buch faced pressure to resign after the Hindenburg Research accused her of having a conflictconflict of interest that prevented a thorough examination of manipulation and fraud claims at the Adani Group.
Hindenburg accused Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch of investing in offshore entities that were allegedly part of a fund structure in which Vinod Adani, the elder brother of Adani group founder chairman Gautam Adani, also had investments.
The Buchs have denied the allegation, saying the investments were made before she joined the regulator and she had complied with all disclosure requirements.
Hindenburg recently announced shutting down its business.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
