The order came after Buch’s end of tenure as the regulator’s chief recently. Buch faced a slew of allegations of impropriety during the final few months of her term.
According to reports, the order was issued on the basis of a complaint, which alleged lapses in dealing with various irregularities of the stock market.
The court found that there is prima facie evidence of regulatory lapses and collusion, requiring a fair and impartial probe, as a special court judge said.
They will monitor the probe and seek a status report (of the case) within 30 days.
The allegations are related to the fraudulent listing of a company on the stock exchange with the active connivance of regulatory authorities, particularly the Sebi, a PTI report said.The complainant, who is a media reporter, claimed that the Sebi officials failed in their statutory duty, facilitated market manipulation, and enabled corporate fraud by allowing the listing of a company that did not meet the prescribed norms.Buch, during her tenure, faced conflict of interest allegations by Hindenburg. The US-based short-seller accused 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.
Buchs have denied the allegations. But, what this led to is Buch getting caught in a political crossfire between the Congress Party and BJP.
There were also reports that in-house employees were unhappy with the functioning of top management including Buch herself. Some staff pointed out a “toxic work culture”.
During Buch’s term, Sebi oversaw critical investigations, including probes into the Adani Group’s alleged stock manipulation and regulatory breaches. The watchdog also took enforcement action against high-profile figures such as Anil Ambani and Ketan Parekh, barring them from the markets over financial misconduct.
Then there were also reforms through a crackdown on the highly volatile derivatives trading. Under her tenure, Sebi also brought in new norms around enhanced FPI disclosures and increasing mutual fund penetration through Rs 250 SIPs.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a career bureaucrat assumed office following Buch’s departure.
