SEBI And The Wings, Clipped

Arijit Barman July 29, 2002 00:00 IST SEBI And The Wings, Clipped -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

After a year of prolonged cross-examinations and a thorough post-mortem of the capital markets and banking system, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigating Ketan Parekh's danse macabre on the bourses and the subsequent collapse of UTI has put together its findings.

In its secret draft report, a copy of which is with Outlook, the JPC denounces the complete lack of professionalism, direction and consistency of SEBI, the stockmarket watchdog. "They've been sleeping throughout. It's time the dog's flogged," quips a Congress member. The draft report was recently circulated among the 30 members and is expected to be submitted to Parliament in the winter session. Minor editorial changes are likely as the JPC awaits certain clarifications from the Department of Company Affairs (DCA), RBI and the I-T department. "The draft can be enriched further as we'll try our best to focus on the pitfalls of liberalisation without proper regulation, the role of government and the connivance of corporates with powers-that-be," says another member.

The degree of SEBI's...