Subhash Chandra accuses SEBI chair of corruption, blames her for Zee-Sony merger failure

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman Emeritus, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL)has levelled serious allegations against SEBI chief, Madhabi Puri Buch, accusing her of corruption and unethical behaviour. Chandra alleged that the market regulator chief was the primary reason why the Sony-ZEEL merger fell through and that she attempted to damage the other sister companies as well.

"Yes, this was the main reason for the merger to set apart, and that is why I am questioning today that SEBI is supposed to protect the interest of minority shareholders, and she succeeded in pushing away Sony from getting merged with Zee," Chandraalleged.

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The deal which was two years in the making and aimed to create one of the country's biggest media and entertainment businesses, could not be completed as SEBI cornered Chandra's son, Punit Goenka.

Chandra also accused Buch of even advising his son to distance himself from the media baronbefore summoning the duo for questioning.

Bribe to settle the case

The former Rajya Sabha MP (Upper House of Indian Parliament) also spoke in detail about an incident from 2019 when he requested leaders in a boardroom to grant him time to repay loans. Chandra stated that without patience, both the lenders and investors, including mutual funds would lose money.

He accused Buch of not extending the repayment period and imposing penalties on those who agreed to deferrepayments. Chandra alleged that a bribe was demanded by one Manjit Singh — recommended to him by a bank’s chairperson, to settle the case. Singh, who was acting as a middleman, said he couldresolve the matter with Buch and her husband for a "price".

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Notably, in the recently released report byUS-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, it was alleged that Buch and her husband worked together to hide her conflict of interest details regarding her investments abroad in Adani Group-linked funds. Buch transferred her investments to her husband so as to avoid regulatory hassles.

“I am convinced that the SEBI chairperson is corrupt since she and her husband, whose combined income was around Rs 1 crore per annum before she assumed the position at Sebi, has now gone up to Rs 40-50 crore per annum," said Chandra.

"This needs to be investigated by the media and investigating agencies, including an analysis of the settled and compounded cases and the consultation fees paid by such corporates and received by the Sebi chairperson and her connected persons. These are many ways she and her husband extort money from corporates and stock market corrupt operators and fund managers."

Buch and Kochhar connection

The Zee Group patriarchalso accused Buch of having relations with embattled ICICI chief Chanda Kochhar after Congress on Monday said the bank was paying salary to the SEBI chair.

"ICICI Bank and my investigation tells me that Madhabi Puri Buch and Chanda Kochhar at that time, were constantly on phone calls," he said, adding: "She was the very close person, and Chanda Kochhar was the one who was giving the money to her, which has been revealed today this morning, for crores of rupees, she was taking illegally from ICICI."

Chandra said he hadtaken a decision "not to cooperate with SEBI any further" as he intends to take legal action against Buch.

“I don’t want to subject myself to this investigation by a corrupt person. You may get me investigated by anybody, any third party, any independent."

The chairman emeritus of ZEEL added that he had written a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this regard but was yet to receive aresponse.