Agencies
NEW DELHI: SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch skipped a Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, prompting panel head K C Venugopal to postpone the sitting, with NDA members accusing him of taking unilateral decisions and lodging a protest with the Lok Sabha speaker.
Venugopal told reporters that the committee received a communication from Buch at 9.30 am that she and her team will not be able to appear before the panel due to “exigencies”. He indicated his disapproval of her decision noting that Buch had confirmed her presence after her earlier request for an exemption was denied.
“Considering a woman’s request, we thought it better to postpone today’s meeting for another day,” Venugopal said as he along with other Opposition members left the venue minutes after the meeting began amid sharp exchanges between the ruling alliance and INDIA bloc MPs. An opposition member alleged that Buch informing the committee about her decision with less than two hours to go for the meeting to begin virtually amounts to contempt of the parliamentary panel.
