Around 200 employees of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) staged a protest at the regulator’s Mumbai headquarters. The protestors demanded the resignation of Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, amidst allegations of an unprofessional work culture.

What Happened: Moneycontrol reported that the protest occurred on September 5 and lasted for about two hours. The employees were expressing their discontent with a recent press release by SEBI, which dismissed their earlier letter to the Finance Ministry about an unprofessional work culture as “misguided by external elements”.

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The immediate demands of the employees include the withdrawal of the press release and the resignation of the SEBI chairperson for allegedly spreading false information about the employees. In a letter to the Finance Ministry last month, some SEBI employees had claimed that there was “immense pressure” on the regulator, leading to a “stressful and toxic work environment”.

SEBI, in its press statement, attributed the claims to demands for higher rental allowance and attempts to stop misreporting of targets achieved and delays in decision-making. The regulator also hinted at the influence of “outside elements” on its employees, without providing further details.

The protest comes at a time when SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch is already facing allegations of conflict of interest from US short-seller Hindenburg Research, Congress party and Zee‘s Subash Chandra who accused SEBI of sabotaging Zee’s merger with Sony India. Buch has denied these allegations.

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