Godrej CEO defends Sebi chair's husband, Dhaval Buch

New Delhi: Godrej Consumer Products MD and CEO Sudhir Sitapati has thrown his support behind Dhaval Buch, husband of embattled Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, stating that it could be the side effects of what happens when the worlds of government and the private sector collide.

Dhaval and Madhabi have been facing allegations of conflict of interest over providing consultancy services to corporates.

In a post on networking platform LinkedIn, he said unless the context of the top professionals coming from the corporate world is understood, there could be a situation where no senior person from the private sector would ever consider a government job.

Given the cusp of change India is at, "there is a lot of talent in the private sector that the government could use, and we probably need to reconsider our old socialist biases against everything private," he said.

"I have known of and then known Dhaval Buch for the 22 years that I worked at Hindustan Unilever. I was much his junior, but in a company known for its integrity, his reputation for integrity stood out," Sitapati wrote.

In a company known for high quality professionals, his reputation as the best supply chain professional HUL ever had, also stood out, he said, adding, "friends overlook your flaws and bosses can be managed, but the view from below is usually an accurate one.”

Sitapati was sharing his take on one of the recent allegations against Madhabi Puri Buch, that her husband, Dhaval Buch, received sums of money for consulting assignments from marquee companies and the obvious implication that these were quid pro quos for favours that Sebi dispensed.

"To me, his post-retirement demand among blue chip companies looking for supply chain expertise, is just as believable, as any insinuations regarding his probity are not," he asserted.

Veracity and politics of the allegations aside, Sitapati said, "We may be witnessing the side effects of what happens when the worlds of government and the private sector collide." 

In the west, especially the US, it is very common for folks from the private sector to move into government jobs, and vice-versa. In India, the Sebi appointment, at least in recent memory, is the first private to public move, he added.

"The two worlds run on very different engines. Salaries, and hence assets, for one, are vastly different," he said, recollecting his own experience as a young management trainee, when his salary was "higher than that of the Cabinet Secretary, who happened to be my uncle" who asked whether they could exchange their jobs.

"...but presciently I politely declined. '4 crore rupees' for a consulting assignment seems scandalously suspicious in the government world but is par for the course in the private sector for someone as qualified as Dhaval," Sitapati asserted.

Secondly, he said the modus operandi in the private sector is 'trust and declare'.

"Follow the spirit of the rules and if you declare any potential conflict of interest to your boss, you are in the clear. In the government sector, you must follow the letter of the rules, with the presiding deity of the corridors of power being Ceaser's wife," he said, adding that even the whiff of private sector engagement is treated with suspicion.

But, Sitapati said, "If you hire someone from the private sector, it will naturally come with a whole lot of past private sector engagements." "Unless we respect the different context that top professionals from the corporate world come from, we could have a situation where no senior person from the private sector would ever consider a government job.

"That would be a real pity," Sitapati concluded.

Congress has made a series of allegations of impropriety against Madhabi Puri Buch, including receiving income from ICICI Bank post-retirement, earning rental income from Wockhardt Associates.

Besides, the political party made accusations against consulting assignments of Dhaval Buch and his companies -- Agora Advisory in India and Agora Partners in Singapore.

Dhaval Buch was accused of earning Rs 4.78 crore from Mahindra Group at a time when the regulator was investigating it for market infractions.

However, Madhabi Puri Buch her husband on Friday said she had made all necessary disclosures and complied with recusal guidelines in dealing with companies such as Mahindra Group that hired her husband, and rejected allegations of impropriety as "false, malicious and motivated.”