BJP and ex-RSS member appointed on Sebi board

A P Sathe, Sumitra Mahajan's brother, has been a part of various companies as an independent director

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The Union finance ministry has appointed senior lawyer Arun Sathe a part-time board member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). This has created a stir in political circles, as Sathe is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the elder brother of current Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan. He is also a former full-time member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“In exercise of power conferred by Sub-Section (1)(d) of Section 4 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act 1992 (15 of 1992), read with rule 19A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Terms and Conditions of service of Chairman and Members) Rules, 1992, the Central Government hereby appoints Arun Sathe, as Part Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India for a period of three years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” said the official government notification dated July 28. Notification was issued by Manoj Joshi, joint secretary, department of economic affairs, who also is a part of the Sebi board.

When contacted, Sathe did not downplay his BJP connections but also highlighted his professional credentials. “I am proud to be an RSS and a BJP functionary. I have been a lawyer for over four decades - I’m a practising tax lawyer and a senior advocate. Until recently, I was also the president of the Income Tax Tribunal Bar Association.”

Sathe has received the agenda for the August 24 board meeting of Sebi. “I am certainly going to attend the meeting,” said the 75-year-old. Defending Sathe’s appointment, finance secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told news agency Press Trust of India, “He is well qualified to be a part-time member of Sebi. I do not see any reason for controversy from what we have checked. He has high integrity. We did our own checks before appointing him.”

Sathe had contested against late Congress veteran Sunil Dutt from the Mumbai-North constituency in the 1989 general elections, but lost by a narrow margin.

He is a director on a couple of companies, which he said would not come in the way of his new role at Sebi. “I will recuse myself if any matter relating to those companies comes before Sebi,” he added.

Sathe is filing up the post left vacant by P C Chhotray, who ceased to be a member as his tenure came to an end earlier this year. The markets regulator has nine members on its board comprising the Sebi chairperson and three whole-time members, along with senior officials from the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India.