NSE co-location case: Court raps SEBI, CBI; dismisses Chitra Ramkrishna's pre-arrest bail plea

New Delhi [India], March 5 ; A Special Court on Saturday while dismissing the pre-arrest bail of former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the NSE co-location case rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The court said, "The conduct of the investigating agency CBI is most lackadaisical to say the least, as no action seems to have been taken against main beneficiaries of the present co-location scam and others for almost four full years, who seems to be enjoying merrily at the expense of common citizenry for the reasons best known. Further, even SEBI despite being a capital market watchdog has been too kind and gentle qua the accused persons in the present FIR /RC".
A Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal on Saturday while deciding the pre-arrest bail of Chitra Ramakrishna also noted that, in the present case huge loss of public money/funds may be involved, it needs to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offence(s) affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby causing a serious threat to the financial health of the country and since economic offences constitute a class apart, therefore, it needs to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail as economic offence(s) have deep rooted conspiracies involving huge loss of public funds.
The magnitude of the present case may be huge, as due to this financial skulduggery huge loss may have been caused to adherent stockbrokers, institutional investors, foreign institutional investors and honest investors, whose faith in this premier financial institution i.e. NSE may have been severely shaken and dented, noted the Court.
While passing the order, the court also said, "Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case and in view of the grave and serious allegations against the applicant / accused as above, no ground for anticipatory bail is made out at this stage. The same stands dismissed."
A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court of Delhi on Saturday refused to grant pre arrest bail to former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the NSE co-location case.
The CBI recently had questioned Chitra Ramkrishna in the matter. The Income Tax (IT) Department earlier also raided various premises linked to Ramkrishna in Mumbai and Chennai.
Recently, the CBI court had remanded Anand Subramanian, former Group Operating Officer and adviser to former MD of National Stock Exchange Chitra Ramkrishna, who was arrested by CBI from Chennai in connection with the NSE case.
The CBI investigation stated that group operating Officer Anand Subramanian's appointment was influenced by NSE chairman and MD Chitra Ramakrishnan.
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 (NSE) 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 adviser to the managing director.