The Congress on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) sought to counter the statement issued by the ICICI Bank that it had not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Buch after her retirement.
Addressing a follow-up press conference, Pawan Khera, who heads the party’s media and publicity wing, asked why the “retiral benefit” was not uniform in terms of its frequency and amount.
On Monday (September 2, 2024), Mr. Khera had levelled charges of conflict-of-interest allegations against Ms. Buch, stating that she held an office of profit at the ICICI Bank and received income despite drawing a salary from the SEBI. Subsequently, the bank said it has not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to Ms .Buch after her retirement on October 31, 2013, as alleged by the Congress.
“Even if we were to assume that the ?5.03 crore she received from ICICI in 2014-2015 (soon after her superannuation) was part of her retiral benefit and that she got nothing in 2015-2016, why did this so called retiral benefit resume in 2016-2017 and continue until 2021?”Mr. Khera asked.
“The average salary drawn by Ms. Madhabi P Buch from 2007 up until 2013-14 (right before her superannuation from ICICI) is ?1.3 crore lakh per annum. However, the so-called retiral benefit given by ICICI to Madhabi Buch from 2016-17 to 2020-21 averages to around ?2.77 crore per annum. How can a person’s retiral benefit be more than her salary as an employee?” the Congress leader added.
He also questioned the bank’s claim that employees, including retired employees, had the choice to exercise their ESOPs anytime up to a period of 10 years from the date of vesting.
“The only ESOP policy ICICI has publicly disclosed on its website is the one uploaded on the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) website, and it clearly states that former employees can exercise their ESOPs within a maximum of three months following their voluntary termination,” he claimed.
The Congress leader asked if the bank had “revised” its policy for the SEBI chairperson. “Why hasn’t the revised policy been made publicly available by the ICICI?” he asked.
