Mr GS Reddy, deputy general manager with Sebi, made public a letter written by him to finance minister Yashwant Sinha, seeking an audience with the latter to expose what he called a ``scandal in Sebi''. The letter has requested the finance minister's intervention in the matter.

Accusing Mr Mehta of subjecting him to various kinds of harassments in Sebi, Mr Reddy's letter says that the Sebi chief's actions ``are questionable, lacks integrity and often with malfeasance''.

``The widespread feeling of mis-treatment and the unprofessional attitude has somehow been suppressed within our minds itself,'' Mr Reddy says in the letter, adding that having resisted the suppression of facts for quite long, he thought this was the right time to come out openly on the matter.

Seeking the finance minister's ``protection'' from the ``mischievous acts of chairman of Sebi'', Mr Reddy says the scandal which he is aware of was perpetrated by Mr Mehta wherein investors had been taken for a ride on account of the flouting of Sebi rules and regulations.

The letter accuses Mr Mehta of taking money for charity purposes from market players including Mr Anand Rathi (``as people say''), making more than 30 visits abroad in the past five years usually accompanied by his wife at Sebi's cost, frequently visiting Jaipur/Jodhpur, his hometowns at Sebi cost and not following a transparent policy on promotions, recruitment or on deputations. Reacting to the allegations in the letter, Mr Mehta told The Financial Express: ``It is most unfortunate that such baseless allegations are being made. I have been paying up all the extra travel expenses incurred from my own pocket. This is allowed under the rules.'' On taking money from market players for charity purposes, he said he was not an office-bearer of any charitable trust and that he had not collected ``a single paisa'' from market players for this purpose.