CBI likely to question former NSE MD Chitra Ramakrishna today

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to question the former National Stock Exchange (NSE) MD Chitra Ramakrishna today, sources said.

The federal agency is probing the NSE co-location case. In 2018, the CBI had booked Sanjay Gupta, the promoter of OPG Security Pvt Ltd, Aman Kokrady his brother-in-law, and Ajay Shah, a data cruncher cum researcher, along with unidentified officials of the NSE and stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), who the agency claims could have connived with the trio to allow the illegal activity to continue for years.

“It is alleged that Sanjay Gupta, the owner and promoter of OPG Security Pvt Ltd abused the server architecture of NSE in a criminal conspiracy with unknown officials of NSE. The officials…. provided unfair access to OPG Securities Pvt Ltd using the co-location facility during the period 2010-12 that enabled to login first to the exchange server of the stock exchange that helped to get the data before any other broker in the market,” the FIR said.

The co-location facility offered by the NSE, allows low latency and fast execution to trading members.

“The view is that there isn’t a need to register a fresh case against Ramakrishna as there is already a case pertaining to the misuse of co-location facility at the bourse. Ramakrishna is likely to be questioned today in the said case,” said an official privy to the development. “The recent emails unearthed by the SEBI would be a point of interest,” added the official.

SEBI on Friday penalised the NSE, its former chief executives Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain, and two others for allegedly violating securities contract rules related to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as group operating officer and adviser to the managing director. SEBI imposed a penalty of Rs 3 crore on Ramakrishna and barred her from associating with any market infrastructure institution or any SEBI-registered intermediary for three years. The probe found that Ramkrsihna shared sensitive information of the bourse with a private person. The regulator has levied Rs.2 crore fine on Subramanian.

Subramanian was the chief strategic adviser from April 1, 2013 and was re-designated as group operating officer and adviser to Ramkrishna from April 1, 2015 till October 21, 2016.

On Thursday , the Mumbai investigation wing of the income tax (IT) department carried out searches on the premises linked to Chitra Ramkrishna. The tax department also carried out raids in Chennai on premises linked to Subramanian.

The IT is probing the two for suspected tax evasion. According to sources the suburban residence of Ramakrishna was searched and her statement was recorded.

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