As SEBI Member Calls Out Madhabi Buch, Will SC Act? Forget Manipur, Gujarat, Notebandi & Lockdown, it Took Shivaji to Finally Get Modi to Say Sorry

Aug 30, 2024

Snapshot of the day

August 30, 2024

Siddharth Varadarajan

More than 1200 people were massacred on his watch in Gujarat in 2002 and another 236 have been killed in the Manipur ethnic strife. Demonetisation wrecked the lives of millions, as did the sudden lockdown of 2020. But it has taken the collapse of a Shivaji statue on the eve of elections in Maharashtra to get Narendra Modi to finally say he is sorry for something, anything:

As soon as I came to Maharashtra today, the first thing I did was to bow my head at the feet of my revered god Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and ask for forgiveness. I also ask for forgiveness from those who worship Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for what happened in Sindhudurg a few days ago.

Remember Hindenburg and SEBI? Earlier this month, the head of India’s securities regulator, Madhabi Puri Buch, brushed aside the obvious conflict of interest involved in her probing the alleged flow of offshore funds to Adani group companies when she had invested in some of those funds by claiming “all disclosures and recusals have been diligently followed”. It now turns out Buch did not recuse herself from the regulator’s investigation into alleged stock market manipulation by the Adani Group – in fact, she oversaw it, a member of SEBI’s board told Ayush Tiwari.

SEBI itself had said that Buch “recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest”. But not according to the board member that Tiwari spoke to, who said: “Nobody in SEBI knew about these investments. It all came as a surprise.” They added that Buch never offered to resign even in informal conversations about the probe. The ball is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. [See Long Cable by MK Venu]

True to form, the Indian media’s focus is elsewhere.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kyiv last week. Daniel Markey and Katie Ruppert look at what Modi was trying to achieve, how it could impact India’s relationship with Russia and what Ukraine wanted out of the visit. They argue that Modi walks a tightrope in Ukraine.

“India has many incentives to favour peace in Europe, it lacks decisive leverage over either warring party. Modi cannot bring either Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to peace if the terms and timelines do not suit their purposes.
Finally, Modi’s globetrotting diplomacy plays to his domestic political advantage in the difficult aftermath of the Indian national elections that weakened his party’s hold over parliament and a tumultuous turn in neighbouring Bangladesh that sent India’s favoured leader, Sheikh Hasina, into exile. By presenting himself as a successful international statesman, Modi distracts his public from these setbacks and reprises a role he played to great effect last fall when he hosted the G20 in India.”

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made a strange statement today. “The era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over,” he said, and the media obligingly hailed this as a “powerful statement … signalling a significant shift in India’s stance”. Which prompted a logical response from Sharat Sabharwal, who served as India’s high commissioner in Islamabad and knows a thing or two about the subject:

There will be no Vistara flights after November 11, and those scheduled to fly after that date will do so under the Air India tag, completing the merger between the two airlines, Jagriti Chandra reports. This comes soon after the government approved foreign direct investment by Singapore Airlines into the newly merged Air India. The Singaporean national carrier has a 49% stake in Vistara and will have a 25.1% stake in the combined entity post-merger.

On the other hand, it has been bad news after bad news for SpiceJet. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has put the struggling airline on enhanced surveillance, which will involve more spot checks and night surveillance to make sure its financial troubles do not impact passenger safety, Chandra cites a source as saying. SpiceJet also had to fly empty aircrafts from Dubai to India after passengers were turned back due to its non-payment of dues to an airport ground service provider. Some of its staff have not been paid their wages on time recently, forcing some to have one meal a day and creating issues with the rent.

In Kashmir, Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party has grown in the last few weeks, with the entry of lower- and middle-rung workers from the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party. His performance in the general election – beating a former chief minister and leading in 18 of his seat’s 21 assembly segments – combined with the BJP’s own woes in J&K have also given rise to speculation that the saffron party is “extending an olive branch” to Rashid, Jehangir Ali reports. He says Rashid could well emerge kingmaker, “if not the king himself”, in the upcoming assembly polls there.

Indian and Chinese delegations met in Beijing yesterday for the 31st round of talks under the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, just 29 days after the previous round held in Delhi. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the two sides had an exchange of views about the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to “to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues”. “For this, they further agreed for intensified contact through diplomatic and military channels,” it stated. China’s media readout also referenced “narrowing” differences.Yesterday’s meeting comes after back-to-back meetings between S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the sidelines of multilateral events.

MGNREGA workers across India will donate one rupee each to cover pending dues for their fellow workers in West Bengal as part of a campaign organised by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha platform, Sobhana K Nair reports. The Union government has not disbursed MGNREGA funds to West Bengal from December 2021 on account of corruption allegations. The Morcha’s convenor Anuradha Talwar noted that as opposed to officials, it is MGNRENGA workers who are being punished for this alleged corruption.

After Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy suggested that the Supreme Court’s giving bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha was the result of a deal between her party and the BJP, the apex court gave him a piece of its mind. “How can this kind of irresponsible statement be made by a person holding the office of the chief minister?” Krishnadas Rajagopal quotes Justice KV Viswanathan as saying during a hearing on whether the trial in a bribery case against Reddy needs to be shifted outside Telangana. Reddy said he regrets his statement but that it was “taken out of context”.

A POCSO judge in Indore convicted and sentenced to prison four employees of the Rajasthan Patrika newspaper, including three journalists, for publishing the name and photograph of a four-year-old rape and murder victim – which is illegal – in 2019. The judge did not accept their contention that they did this to raise awareness.

Vishal Saxena, a Bareilly man whose decision to sell his house to a Muslim woman triggered protests from some Hindus living in his neighbourhood – including threats of a mass exodus – has written to the local police accusing Hindutva forces of sowing communal disharmony, Madeeha Fatima reports. Meanwhile, the family of the Muslim woman being targeted by this communal campaign has offered to sell the home to any sanatani interested in buying it.

CPI(M) MLA and actor Mukesh is among six people booked over sexual abuse allegations in Kerala following the Hema Committee report’s release. Police have invoked provisions dealing with rape, using assault or force to outrage a woman’s modesty and insulting a woman’s modesty, and a court has directed the investigating officer in the case not to arrest him until Tuesday, September 3 following his anticipatory bail plea. MP Praveen reports.

The release of audio recordings of three telephone calls made by the administration at RG Kar hospital to the parents of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered on its premises has confirmed what the parents have already said: that they were told their daughter had “committed suicide”.

Sukrita Baruah explains what Assam’s new Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill provides for and what its repeal of the colonial-era Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act entails.

Ajit Doval is reportedly in Sri Lanka to review deliberations for the Colombo Security Conclave, an initiative that includes India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Mauritius (Seychelles figures as an observer). Colombo-based political sources told Meera Srinivasan that they were invited to meetings with Doval.

Kamala Harris may have established a small lead over Donald Trump as the US presidential campaign gathers steam but she is facing difficulty attracting Indian American voters, reports Nikkei.

UK Insurer Aviva dodged Indian compensation and tax rules

UK insurer Aviva has been accused of a major regulatory breach in India, allegedly bypassing local laws capping commissions to sales distributors through a web of fake invoices and secret cash payments. According to a notice from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Aviva’s Indian arm funnelled $26 million from 2017 to 2023 to bogus vendors claiming to provide marketing and training services. In reality, these entities were mere fronts for illicitly channelling funds to Aviva’s distributors. “Aviva and its officials have indulged in a deep-rooted conspiracy and used the modus of fake invoices (without receipt of services) to pass on certain money to ... insurance distributors of Aviva,” investigators wrote in the notice accessed by Reuters. The 205-page report included screenshots of emails and WhatsApp messages between Aviva executives and insurance distributors, in which they discussed ways to skirt compensation regulations. It also contained summaries of interviews conducted by tax officials with executives like Aviva India chief financial officer Sonali Athalye, who described how payments were made.

Vibrant Gujarat?

BJP MLAs and elected councillors on the municipal corporation in Gujarat were forced to leave certain areas where houses were flooded, as citizens were fed up with their hollow promises, and erupted in anger. In Vadodara’s Aji Nagar, Balkrishna Shukla and BJP President Dr. Vijay Shah faced the brunt of public frustration. As they attempted to visit flood-affected families after the waters had receded, they were sharply rebuked by locals who had seen no sign of them during the crisis. “Jai Shri Ram, leave from here... there is no need to come now that the water has receded,” the residents shouted, driving the politicians away. The leaders faced intense criticism for their delayed response and the perceived lack of genuine concern.

Meanwhile, in true ‘Vishwaguru’ spirit, foreign guests in Vadodara were treated to a VIP city tour — on a bulldozer! Forget luxury buses; nothing says “Atithi Devo Bhava” like a bumpy ride through flood-hit streets! Vibrant Gujarat never fails to surprise.

Low pressure system, La Nina may prolong monsoon and threaten summer crops

The “increased probability” of a low-pressure system means the monsoon may retreat later than usual this year, an IMD source has told Reuters. Another official from the department said the likely formation of La Nina conditions starting next month could also prolong the monsoon in line with earlier trends. This means summer crops such as rice, pulses and cotton could be damaged by unseasonal rainfall and push food inflation up – but it could also increase soil moisture in a plus for winter crops such as wheat.

The Long Cable

As SEBI Board Member Calls Out Madhabi Buch in Adani Probe, Will SC Act?

MK Venu

For over two weeks now, the Modi government has maintained radio silence on the critical question of whether the Securities and Exchange Board of India chief Madhavi Puri Buch had formally recused herself from SEBI’s investigation of the offshore entities used by the Adani group to allegedly manipulate its stock prices.

Consequently, one of Asia's largest markets had been left to speculate on whether its regulator was indeed tainted. Following Hindenburg's revelations about her past links with one of the offshore entities, the Union finance ministry – which effectively governs SEBI – has not helped matters by saying it has nothing to add to what Buch had said in her defence. Which is neither here nor there, since she has steadfastly refused to answer the one specific question which really matters: did she recuse herself from the probe into Adani offshore entities as propriety and SEBI’s own norms required?

This conspiracy of silence has been broken now by a SEBI board member who has anonymously revealed to the online news platform Scroll that Buch "did not recuse herself from the market regulator’s investigation into alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group."

The board member added: " Buch, in fact, oversaw SEBI’s Adani probe because it was ordered by the Supreme Court”.

This revelation clearly contradicts SEBI’s official statement that Buch had “recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest” and helps explain why Buch has avoided answering the specific question of whether she had recused herself in the Adani matter.

If a member of the SEBI board has now clarified, even if anonymously, that Buch had not recused herself from the investigation when the Supreme Court directed the Board to probe Hindenburg’s original allegations, then there is little doubt left that she was hiding this from the public and markets alike. It is also possible that the SEBI board member is consciously distancing the board from Buch. Remember, her statement implicitly claimed that the SEBI board was backing her. Surely this claim has now come under a cloud.

If true, her non-recusal has grave consequences. One direct implication is that it brings under a cloud SEBI’s entire investigation into the Adani entities under the aegis of the Supreme Court.

The investigation is not complete yet and the Supreme Court is still seized of the matter. The anonymous statement by a SEBI board member cannot be ignored, least of all by the court, which has the power to establish the veracity of this claim. If a review of SEBI records establishes that the claim is true, what could be the remedy?

The Supreme Court could perhaps appoint another independent committee comprising former SEBI chiefs and officials and possibly a member of the judiciary to re-investigate the matter and give a report within a few months. Surely a lot of information would have already been gathered by SEBI in its ongoing probe lasting many months. In any case, the Adani entities were being probed since 2017 and a lot of material information would have been collected gradually. One presumes that if Hindenburg was able to acquire so much information, mostly collected from Indian sources, SEBI would also have them. The question is only one of how to read and interpret the information within the four corners of the law, security rules and regulations.

Madhavi Buch made an interesting statement at a public event she attended in Mumbai this week. She said that for the business environment at large, "regulation and compliances are important as they foster trust in the system".

Needless to say, to "foster trust in the system", sometimes the regulator must also come clean. That is the least which can be expected of any regulator.

Reportedly

In an interview to a YouTuber, BJP leader Smriti Irani, who lost the Amethi Lok Sabha seat to a Congress candidate, acknowledges that Rahul Gandhi is doing “different politics now”. She notes in particular his advocacy of a caste census and his preference for a white t-shirt. Mistaking the honesty of an adversary for something more, the Indian Express wonders if she has “changed her tune”. Which of course she hasn’t.

Deep dive

Rishika Sahgal says that “the language of decolonisation in the context of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) is therefore at best empty and rhetorical; and worse still, a means to mask the continuation of coloniality in our criminal laws”.

`Prime number: 83,000`

The current backlog in the Supreme Court stands at nearly 83,000 cases, the highest ever recorded. The rise in the number of Supreme Court judges has had a limited effect on reducing the backlog of cases. Unsurprisingly, the backlog has grown eightfold over the past decade, while decreasing only twice.

Opeds you don’t want to miss

“There can be no doubt, discussion or debate that the only reason Jay Shah is set to become the next boss of the ICC is because his father is the junior partner in the old, faltering ruling firm of Shahenshah and Shah”. Harish Khare in an acerbic piece on the rise of Jay Shah which is nothing but the fall of Naya Bharat.
Anuradha Bhasin says that while alliances will play a key role, three factors will significantly impact the composition of the future legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir: the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019, the Delimitation Commission Report of 2022 and the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment Act) of 2023.
It is a daunting task for BJP to keep Jammu bastion intact, says Aurangzeb Naqshbandi. However, Bharat Bhushan says that the real tussle for power in J&K will start after elections.
How can regionalism be deemed a failure when it has not really been tried? Kanak Mani Dixit says that we need a daring scholarship that seeks to overcome the tropes of ultra-national thinking that have kept subcontinental camaraderie at bay.
A G Noorani was a fearless author who spoke truth to power, writes Ziya Us Salam. Haseeb Drabu pays tribute to the scholar-lawyer too.
Demanding the death penalty is convenient because men can continue to behave in the manner they always have, argues T M Krishna.

Listen up

On Himal Southasian podcast, listen to Veteran journalist and Afghanistan analyst Kate Clark explaining “how Afghan people have been living under the Taliban’s ultra-conservative rule while grappling with global isolation and a crumbling economy.”

Watch out

Watch this hard-hitting video by Official Peeing Human on the Bangladesh crisis. The video exposes the fake news and twisted narratives pushed by Indian right-wing and Godi media. A must-watch to see the real story behind the propaganda!

Over and out

Zakia Khodadadi, an Afghan para-athlete, made history on Thursday at the Paris Paralympic Games with a performance that defied all odds. Once banned from sports by the Taliban, Zakia refused to be silenced. Fleeing her homeland, she joined the International Paralympic Committee’s immigrant team, determined to pursue her passion despite the dangers. Her journey culminated in a moment of triumph as she secured a bronze medal in para-taekwondo, becoming a symbol of resilience and hope for the women of Afghanistan. Her victory is not just personal but a powerful statement of resistance against oppression.

Freedom fighter Bhabani Mahato passed away peacefully in her sleep soon after midnight of August 29-30, 2024, says P. Sainath, who wrote about her and other unsung heroes of the Indian struggle for independence in his last book. She was 106 years old.

That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you on Monday, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.

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