PARLIAMENT'S Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday postponed its sitting after SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and other officials expressed inability to attend the meeting, panel chairperson K C Venugopal said.
Buch, under a cloud over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by US-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the PAC, which is reviewing the performance of the market regulator.
"Today morning at 9:30, we got a communication from the SEBI chairperson and other members that because of a personal exigency, she is unable to travel to Delhi," Venugopal told reporters here.
Considering that the request was made by a woman, the committee decided to postpone the sitting to another day, he said.
After the PAC meeting was postponed, its member and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Venugopal of taking suo motu decisions.
He also said that several PAC members, including those from the BJP and its alliance partners, are approaching LS Speaker Om Birla against Venugopal's conduct.
The PAC is also examining matters related to the Department of Telecommunications and that meeting will go ahead as scheduled during the post-lunch session.
The committee's decision to include the performance review of regulatory bodies established by legislation in its agenda invited no protest, but Venugopal's move to call Buch raised hackles of the BJP members as she has been at the centre of a political row ignited by the Hindenburg's allegations.
The short-seller's accusation against Buch was seized upon by the Congress to seek her ouster and to attack the government, rendering political dimensions to the panel's missive to her to appear before it.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, a member of the panel, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Venugopal, accusing the senior Congress leader of raking up "non-existent" issues to defame the central government and "destabilise" the country's financial structure and economy.
Accusing Venugopal of "unconstitutional and disdainful" conduct, Dubey claimed the Congress leader's conduct is guided by political motivations as voters compelled his party to sit in the opposition benches following the Lok Sabha polls.
Claiming that unverified allegations by a foreign company like Hindenburg against Buch were part of such a campaign, he alleged that the 'India Chapter' of this toolkit has become active. (PTI)
A youth carries an elderly man as they wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025. The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah has risen to at least 334 people across Sri Lanka, with nearly 400 still missing, the Disaster Management Centre said on November 30. Getty Images
A man carries his cat across a flooded road in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 29, 2025. Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance on November 29 as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. Getty Images