Chitra Ramkrishna moves bail plea in Delhi HC in NSE co-location case, Judge recuses

New Delhi: In National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location case, Chitra Ramkrishna former managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), moved Delhi High Court seeking bail in the matter.

The bench of Justice Talwant Singh on Wednesday recused to hear the matter.

Chitra Ramkrishna has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court order denying her bail in the matter.

On May 12, the trial court's Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal had refused to grant bail to Chitra Ramkrishna in the matter and said, considering the gravity as well as the seriousness, enormity, and magnitude of the allegations against the accused persons, as discussed above, no ground for their bail is made out at this stage. Both the above bail application stand dismissed.

The trial court also said that "it appears that accused Chitra Ramkrishna prima facie seems to have been running the affairs of NSE akin to that of a private club; singer writer, Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan once said 'money doesn't talk, it swears', which is a song of, 1964 song album "It's Alright Ma I'm Only Bleeding", means that money not only has influence, but it has great influence, even a perverse influence on people."

"Financial world including The FIIs are waiting with bated breath for NSE to redeem itself, so that they can fly to this country for investment in droves, which is at present, a brilliant destination for investment. With regard to affairs of NSE at the relevant time, it would not be out of place to observe herein that there comes a time in a lifetime of an institution, where it finds itself at crossroads, then it should take a path which is a right path to restore its glory, rather than burying the skeletons, which may later turn into Frankenstein monsters, said the trial court judge.

CBI, in March, had arrested Chitra Ramkrishna a former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Anand Subramanian as Group Operating Officer and Advisor to MD in connection with the NSE co-location case was arrested in February month.

Before Trial Court, CBI while opposing the bail petition of Chitra Ramkrishna, stated that Chitra is highly influential and may tamper with the documentary/ digital evidence and manipulate the witnesses if released on bail. The petitioner was a high-ranking official of NSE during the relevant period. Incriminating evidence has already come to the fore against her. The consequences of granting bail will adversely affect the investigation.

CBI in its reply also stated that the examination of other witnesses is underway to unearth the conspiracy related to the co-location set-up and the role played by the applicant Chitra Ramkrishna therein. She was looking into the day-to-day affairs and the entire Co-location setup that was implemented during her tenure at NSE. There are apprehensions that she may sway the witnesses if enlarged on bail.

Reply also stated that the case pertains to the allegations against senior officials of the NSE where undue gains have been made by trading members by abusing the co-location facility. Investigation into the role and responsibility of top officials in facilitating unfair access to the Co-Location setup is underway.

In the National Stock Exchange Co-Location case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that the investigation states that accused Chitra Ramkrishna, by misusing her official position, re-designated the post of accused Anand Subramanian as Group Operating Officer and Advisor to MD from April 1, 2015, without bringing the same to the notice of NRC and the board.

The CBI is probing the alleged improper dissemination of information from the computer servers of the market exchanges to the stockbrokers.

Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has penalized the National Stock Exchange and its former CEOs Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narayan, and two other officials for lapses in recruitment at the senior level.

Ravi Narain was the MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange from April 1994 till March 2013, while Chitra Ramkrishna was the MD and CEO of the NSE from April 2013 to December 2016.

The market regulators observed that the NSE and its top executives violated securities contract norms relating to the appointment of Anand Subramaniam as group operating officer and advisor to the managing director.