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The opposition Congress on Tuesday hardened its stand against Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch over allegations that her retirement benefits are more than her salary while working at ICICI Bank. Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Pawan Khera asked, “How can retirement benefits be more than her salary while working at ICICI Bank?” The Congress leader urged the SEBI chief to “come out clean, clarify and answer our allegations.”
The Congress had earlier alleged that Sebi chief Buch was holding a position of profit in ICICI Bank and had received funds worth over Rs 10 lakh. A huge profit of Rs 16.8 crore was earned from the bank and its subsidiaries.
On Tuesday, Pawan Khera raised the question, “How can the retirement benefits be more than the salary he earned while working at ICICI? His average annual salary at ICICI was Rs 1.30 crore. However, his average pension and other retirement benefits came out to be Rs 1.30 crore. Rs 2.77 crore. How is this possible?
On Tuesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted a series of questions on X (formerly Twitter) seeking clarifications from the Sebi chief and ICICI Bank.
• Why has this so-called “retirement benefit” been uneven in both its frequency and amount?
• Even if we assume that the Rs 5.03 crore he received from ICICI in 2014-2015 (immediately after retirement) was part of his “retirement benefits” and he did not receive anything in 2015-2016, why did this so-called “retirement benefits” start again in 2016-2017 and continue till 2021?
• The average salary received by Ms. Madhabi P. Buch from 2007 to 2013-14 (just before her retirement from ICICI) is Rs 130 lakh per annum. However, the so-called “retirement benefits” paid to Ms. Madhabi P. Buch by ICICI from 2016-17 to 2020-21 average around Rs 277 lakh per annum. How can a person’s “retirement benefits” be more than his or her salary as an employee?
Pawan Khera said, “ICICI says that our employees and retired employees have the option to exercise their ESOP. ICICI has written on an American website that if someone resigns from ICICI Bank, the ESOP can be exercised within three months of resignation. But Madhavi Buch ji is still running ESOP even after 8 years of resignation. Why doesn’t every ICICI employee get such benefit?”
ICICI Bank’s clarification on Congress’ allegations against Buch
The questions raised by the Congress came after ICICI Bank clarified that neither it nor its group companies have paid any salary or granted any employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to the Sebi chief. Describing the money paid to Buch as ‘retirement benefits’, ICICI Bank said, “Madhabi Puri Buch has not been paid any salary or granted any ESOP other than her retirement benefits after her retirement. It is worth noting that she had opted for retirement with effect from October 31, 2013.”
Madhabi Buch served as a whole-time member of SEBI from April 5, 2017 to October 4, 2021 before being appointed as SEBI chairperson in March 2022. Her career began with ICICI Bank in 1989 and she later held the position of CEO at ICICI Securities from February 2009 to May 2011.
Hindenburg–Adani-Buch affair
Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch came under fire after US short-seller firm Hindenburg Research in its latest article released in August alleged that “SEBI chairman has bought stakes in shadowy offshore entities used in the Adani money siphon scam”.
The allegations come a year after Hindenburg Research published a report that accused the Adani Group of financial irregularities, leading to a dramatic drop in the company’s share prices.
“The current SEBI chairperson and her husband Dhaval Buch held secret stakes in the same shadowy offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds that were found in the same complex nested structure used by Vinod Adani,” the Hindenburg report alleged.
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