NEW DELHI: Arun Sathe, elder brother of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and a former RSS full-timer, has been appointed as a member on the board of markets regulator Sebi and the government defended the step saying he is “well qualified” for the position.
As the appointment raised questions about the political appointments in a key regulatory institution, Sathe on his part said he would do his job judiciously and there is nothing wrong in “being an RSS man”.
Sathe, a lawyer by profession, has been appointed by the central government as a “Part-Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a period of three years”, as per a Finance Ministry notification.
“I have been an active member of the BJP. I was its National Executive member. I am an RSS man. So, what’s wrong in it?” Sathe told while adding that he has been nominated by the Finance Ministry on the Sebi board.
Sathe had unsuccessfully fought Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate in 1989 from Mumbai North-West against Congress’ Sunil Dutt.
Defending the appointment, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said Sathe is well qualified and a person of high integrity and there is no reason for any controversy.
“He is well qualified to be a part-time member of Sebi. I do not see any reason for controversy and from what we have checked, he has high integrity. We did our own checks before appointing him… He is a leading lawyer,” Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said.
At present one more position is vacant on Sebi’s board and its Chairman U K Sinha’s current tenure will also end in a few months. Some positions are vacant on the RBI board as well, while more vacancies are scheduled to come up soon at Sebi, RBI and other regulatory bodies where incumbents were appointed during the previous UPA government.
When asked about the controversy over his appointment, Sathe said it is not even a full-time job.
“I will not be employed by Sebi. I have been nominated by the Finance Ministry (as a Part-Time Member). I will do the job as mandated under the Sebi Act. I will do the job judiciously,” he said.
The notification, dated July 28, said that the appointment has been made under a provision of the Sebi Act that empowers the government to appoint five members on the board of this key regulatory body.
Out of the five members that the government can appoint on the Sebi board, at least three must be whole-time members. In addition, the board includes a Chairman and three nominee members — one each from the RBI, the Finance Ministry and the Corporate Affairs Ministry.
Going by the current board composition, the government can appoint one more member while Chairman U K Sinha’s current tenure will also end in February 2016.
While Sinha’s tenure can be extended by a year, there are reports that the government has already initiated a process to find his successor.
Sinha, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, was appointed Sebi Chairman for three years in February 2011 and was later given a two-year extension, which ends on February 17, 2016.
Among Sebi’s three whole-time members, the current tenure of Prashant Saran and S Raman will end in 2017 while that of Rajeev Kumar Agarwal will come to an end in 2016.
Sathe, who has been on the board of some companies as independent director, is expected to attend his first Sebi board meeting later this month. (AGENCIES)
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