Rama Krishna Sangem
Finance secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will replace Madhabi Puri Buch as the next Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman, after the latter’s three-year term ends on February 28. We all know, present SEBI chairman Madhavi Puri Buch who leaves her office is mired in controversies of late.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved Pandey’s appointment as Sebi chief, initially for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the Department of Personnel and Training said in a statement.
A 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Odisha cadre, Pandey served for more than five years as the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary from October 24, 2019. He was appointed as finance secretary in September 2023. Pandey took charge as the revenue secretary in the finance ministry on January 9.
He reformed Air India, LIC
Pandey is credited with concluding the long-pending sale of the national carrier Air India and was also instrumental in the public debut of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) during his tenure as DIPAM secretary. The government had invited applications for the Sebi chairperson’s post, with the last date for submissions being February 17.
While Puri Buch’s track record in market oversight and regulatory reforms has been exemplary, the controversy surrounding ‘conflict of interest’—first raised by the now-defunct Hindenburg Research and subsequently by the Opposition Congress—overshadows her achievements.
Over a year after Sebi initiated a probe into the Adani-Hindenburg matter, the US short-seller levelled serious allegations of conflict of interest and violations of the code of conduct in relation to the advisory firms owned by Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch. The political Opposition, Congress, made corruption allegations, scrutinising Puri Buch’s private investments, employee stock ownership from her previous employer, and Dhaval Buch’s association with Blackstone. Despite the couple’s rebuttal, the Public Accounts Committee summoned Puri Buch, though the session had to be adjourned due to her absenc
