A Delhi court has remanded former National Stock Exchange (NSE) head Chitra Ramkrishna, who was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly revealing secret information about the NSE, to seven days in CBI detention [CBI v. Sanjay Gupta & Ors].
On March 7, Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal dismissed Ramkrishna’s anticipatory bail application, stating that bail cases involving economic offences must be handled differently because they entail deep-rooted conspiracies involving the misappropriation of public monies.
“This kind of co-location fraud could not have been conceivable without the knowledge and active connivance of all functional leaders of the NSE at the relevant time,” the bail ruling noted. “This period can be characterised as a dark chapter in the history of NSE.”
The Court then took note of the CBI’s statement that Ramkrishna had not provided any meaningful responses to its inquiries throughout her three-day interrogation. The CBI maintained that because co-accused Anand Subramanian is already in custody, interviewing both of them would be necessary to uncover the truth.
The Court, on the other hand, stated the CBI’s approach was “very lackadaisical,” because no action appeared to have been taken against the principal beneficiaries of the alleged co-location fraud, and others, for nearly four years, who appeared to be “enjoying merrily at the expense of common citizens.”
Even though the offence is more than four years old and the defendants have been completely cooperating since, Ramkrishna’s counsel claimed that the media is exerting undue public pressure on investigating authorities as a result of the SEBI’s findings in the case.
It was contended that the CBI and the NSE already had all of the electronic and documentary evidence and that nothing could be recovered from the petitioner. The attorney emphasised that she is not allowed to tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses in any manner.
The case originates from a SEBI ruling dated February 11 that concluded she engaged in financial misconduct relating to the fixation and repeated revision of Anand Subramanian’s compensation in an unreasonable way in collusion with whom she claimed to be a ‘Siddha Purusha.’
Ramkrishna’s bizarre claim that she was guided in her professional decisions by a Siddha Purusha/ Yogi living in the Himalayas did not sit well with the SEBI, which barred her from associating with any market infrastructure institution or any intermediary registered with the SEBI for a period of three years.
