In a fresh attack on Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch, the Congress party has levelled more allegations, asserting that Buch intentionally concealed crucial information. It has been highlighted by the main opposition party that despite Buch’s assertions of Agora Advisory being inactive or dormant, the company was actually operational and managed to generate a substantial revenue amounting to Rs 2.95 crore between the years 2016 and 2024.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, in a statement issued on Tuesday, disclosed that Buch, who assumed office as the Sebi chief in March 2022, maintained a substantial ownership stake of 99% in Agora Advisory as of March 31, 2024.
Moreover, the party disclosed that prominent organizations such as Sembcorp, Visu Leasing and Finance, Pidilite, Mahindra and Mahindra, Dr. Reddy’s, as well as ICICI Bank, were among the clientele of Agora Advisory, all of which are publicly listed entities.
What Pawan Khera said about Agora Advisory
1. Despite claims that Buch’s advisory company, Agora Private Limited, ceased operations when she took office, the company continued to function and generate revenue.
2. Congress said that Agora Private Limited earned Rs 2.95 crore between 2016 and 2024. To add to it, Mahindra and Mahindra, Dr. Reddy’s, Pidilite, ICICI, Sembcorp and Vi are some of the active clients of Agora Private Limited.
3. The party said: “Strangely, of the total Rs 2.95 crore received by Agora Advisory Private Limited, 2.59 crore has come from one entity alone—the Mahindra & Mahindra Group. It accounts for 88 percent of the total money that Agora Advisory received.”
4. Khera said Section 5 of SEBI’s code on conflict of interest has been violated due to Agora’s activities.
5. It added that 88% of the Rs 2.95 crore received by Agora Advisory came from Mahindra & Mahibdra.
6. The SEBI chief’s husband Dhaval Buch received Rs 4.78 crore between 2019 and 2021 from Mahindra & Mahindra and violated Section 11 of SEBI, the party claimed.
What Buchs had said about Agora
On August 11, Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch released a joint statement addressing the status of two consulting firms she had established during her time in Singapore. The statement clarified that both companies, located in India and Singapore, were rendered inactive upon her assumption of the SEBI Chairperson position.
“These companies (and her shareholding in them) were explicitly part of her disclosures to SEBI.”
This response came in the wake of allegations by Hindenburg Research suggesting the involvement of Madhabi and Dhaval Buch in undisclosed offshore entities linked to the purported Adani financial irregularity.
What MCA data said about Agora
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) master data last month showed that Agora Advisory is listed as “active”. The data — accessed by Hindenburg Research — showed Agora generated Rs 2.54 crore in income between 2020-21 and 2023-24.
As per MCA’s description, Agora Advisory, which was launched in May 2013, offers advisory and consultancy services to governments, business, commerce, industry, non-profit organisations and other entities.
According to MCA data, Agora’s revenues stood at Rs 1.98 crore in FY22, Rs 41 lakh in FY23 and Rs 14 lakh in FY24 — a total of Rs 2.53 crore. These include other incomes as well.
The MCA website showed Dhaval Buch as a director of Agora Advisory. The filings showed Madhabi Buch had a stake of 99%, or 9,900 shares of Rs 10 each, in the firm, and 1% stake, or 100 shares, was with Kavita Shah. Shah and Dhaval Buch are directors in the company.
The data further showed that Shah and Dhaval Buch are also directors in two other companies — Aarnaira Impact Solutions and Aarnaira Development Foundation.
After Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband released a 15-point rebuttal to Hindenburg’s claims, the short-seller firm wrote on X that Agora was still 99 per cent owned by the Sebi chairperson and had generated revenue during 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 while she was serving as chairperson.
