Co-location scam: Chitra Ramkrishna fails to recognise Anand Subramanian
A CBI special court on Wednesday (March 9) sent Anand Subramanian, former Group Operating Officer and advisor to former MD of National Stock Exchange (NSE), to 14-day judicial custody in the NSE Co-location scam.
Former NSE CEO Chitra Ramkrishna, who was arrested three days back, was also produced in the court on Wednesday. The court sent Ramkrishna to CBI custody for seven more days.
The CBI told the court that Chitra Ramkrishna refused to recognise Anand Subramanian when the two were brought face to face on March 6. As per records, the two have exchanged 2500 emails in the past. Also, it was Ramkrishna who had appointed Subramanian as her advisor, who was later elevated as group operating officer at a fat pay cheque of Rs 4.21 crore annually. The CBI told the court that Ramkrishna hired Subramanian as a consultant in NSE without “following due procedure” and by resorting to coerce tactics.
Besides Ramkrishna and Subramanian, the CBI last month questioned NSE officials including former managing director Ravi Narain. Chitra Ramkrishna succeeded Ravi Narain in 2013.
Subramanian’s controversial appointment and subsequent elevation, besides crucial decisions, were guided by an unidentified person who Ramkrishna claimed was a formless mysterious yogi dwelling in the Himalayas, a probe into her email exchanges during the Sebi-ordered audit showed. The Sebi audit showed alleged abuse of power by the then top brass of the NSE. The CBI started investigating the matter, zeroing in on Delhi-based stock broker first in 2018.
Sebi has levied a fine of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on NSE, Subramanian, former NSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain, and Rs 6 lakh on V.R. Narasimhan, who was the chief regulatory officer and compliance officer.
The CBI nabbed Subramanian from Chennai on February 26 following new revelations in a SEBI report. Subramanian was allegedly referred to as the “yogi” in the forensic audit but the Sebi’s final report had rejected the claim.
Also read: Himalayan blunder: All you need to know about a yogi running the NSE
The CBI had grilled Chitra Ramkrishna for three days in February and carried out searches at her residence on 24th and 25th of that month, but she refused to cooperate, giving evasive responses all the while.
The central probe agency had also used services of a senior psychologist of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory who also questioned her. The officials said the psychologist had also come to the conclusion that she was evasive in responses leaving no option for the agency but to arrest her. A special CBI court had on Saturday rejected her anticipatory bail application.
The NSE had then offered co-location facility where brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises giving them faster access to the markets. It is alleged that some brokers in connivance with insiders abused the algorithm and the co-location facility to make windfall profits.
