SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have clarified that they had rented out property to Wockhardt’s associate unit in ‘normal circumstances’ and the income from this was duly declared and tax was also paid on it. The Buch couple issued a personal statement on September 13 saying that all disclosures in this regard were given to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the SEBI Chairperson did not interfere in any file or case related to Wockhardt.
The statement issued by the Buch couple said, ‘Questions have been raised about the rental income from the property of Madhabi and Dhawal. This property was rented under normal circumstances and coincidentally the tenant was a subsidiary of Walkhart, which came under the purview of investigation. Madhabi has not interfered in any file related to Walkhart.’
The statement further said that the rental agreement was done as per the standard market rule and tax was paid accordingly. According to the statement, ‘Even a simple search on the internet can reveal that the rental income from this property was as per the market rate. The claim that the rental was different from the market rate is wrong. Since Madhabi’s appointment as a whole-time member of SEBI in 2017, all disclosures have been made to the market regulator, including details related to the market value of the property and rental income.’
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had alleged that the Sebi chief had rented out his property to Carol Info Services, a Wockhardt Group company, against which the market regulator is investigating several cases, including insider trading.