Mahindra Refutes Cong Allegations on Payments to Buch

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Tuesday refuted allegations of conflict of interest on payments made to Dhaval Buch, husband of SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, describing the charges levelled by the Congress as "false and misleading in nature".

In a regulatory filing, the company said Dhaval Buch joined Mahindra Group almost three years before Madhabi Buch was appointed as SEBI Chairperson.

"Compensation has been specifically and only for Mr Buch's supply chain expertise and management acumen, based on his global experience at Unilever," the company asserted.

Referring to Congress' allegations on approvals by SEBI to the company, it said, "None of the five SEBI orders or approvals referenced in the allegations are relevant.

Three out of the five approvals or orders of SEBI do not pertain to the company or any of its subsidiaries, it said.

Further, M&M said, "One was a fast-track rights issue, which did not require any approval from Sebi and one was an order issued in March 2018, well before Mr. Dhaval started working with the Mahindra Group."

The company said, "We categorically state that we have not, at any point, requested SEBI for any preferential treatment.

Asserting that the company maintains the highest standards of corporate governance, it said, "We consider these allegations false and misleading in nature."

The Congress on Tuesday claimed that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch had a 99 per cent stake in a firm when it provided consultancy services to Mahindra and Mahindra Group and her husband received Rs 4.78 crore as income from the conglomerate while she was adjudicating cases of the same group.

Mahindra Group hired Dhaval Buch in 2019 specifically for his expertise in supply chain and sourcing, soon after he retired as Unilever's Global Chief Procurement Officer, the filing said.

He has spent most of his time at Bristlecone, a subsidiary which is a supply chain consulting company. Mr. Buch is currently on the Board of Bristlecone, it added.