New Delhi, March 14 (Agency) A local court on Monday sent former Managing Director and CEO of National Stock Exchange, Chitra Ramkrishna to 14-day judicial custody, in the NSE co-location case. According to SEBI, the NSE and its top executives violated securities contract norms relating to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as Group Operating Officer and Advisor to the Managing Director. It was alleged that some brokers, in connivance with insiders, abused the algorithm and the co-location facility to make windfall profits. In the co-location facility offered by NSE, brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises, giving them faster access to markets.
Capital Markets Regulator SEBI penalised the NSE, Ramkrishna and Ravi Narayan and two other officials for lapses in recruitment at the senior level. Ravi Narain was the MD and CEO of NSE from April 1994 till March 2013, while Ramkrishna was MD and CEO of NSE from April, 2013 to December, 2016. Chitra was appointed as MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange on April 1, 2013. CBI had arrested Chitra in the matter on March 6, 2022, when her anticipatory bail application was dismissed by the court, alleging that the electronic devices recovered were being analysed and would be used for conducting further examination.
The arrest was made in the case related to the co-location scam, the FIR for which was registered in May 2018, amid fresh revelations about irregularities at the country’s largest stock exchange. CBI is probing the alleged improper dissemination of information from the computer servers of market exchanges to the stock brokers. The national investigation agency got 7-day CBI custody of Chitra by submitting before the court that her custodial interrogation was required for fair and proper investigation of the case. After expiry of 7-day custody, CBI produced the accused before the court and requested for judicial custody. Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal, after hearing the plea on behalf of the prosecution, today passed an order of judicial custody and said that Ramakrishna be physically produced before the court on March 28.