Former MD and CEO of NSE Chitra Ramkrishna sent to 7-day CBI remand by special court

A special court in Delhi has sent Chitra Ramkrishna, former MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) to 7-day day CBI remand. She was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday in connection with the co-location scam.

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal passed the order on Monday after hearing arguments from the central agency and the counsel appearing for the accused. The probing agency had sought her 14-day custodial interrogation.

Chitra Ramkrishna was arrested by CBI on Sunday after her anticipatory bail application was dismissed by the court on Saturday.

The CBI had recently questioned Ramkrishna in the matter. The Income Tax (I-T) Department earlier raided various premises linked to Ramkrishna in Mumbai and Chennai.

The CBI court had recently sent Anand Subramanian, former Group Operating Officer (GOO) and advisor to Ramkrishna, to CBI custody. He was arrested by the CBI from Chennai.

The arrest was made in the case related to the co-location scam, for which the FIR was registered in May 2018, amid fresh revelations about irregularities at the country's largest stock exchange.

Co-location scam

The CBI is probing the alleged inappropriate dissemination of information from the computer servers of the bourses to the stockbrokers.

In the co-location facility offered by National Stock Exchange, brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises providing them faster access to the markets. It is alleged that some brokers in connivance with insiders manipulated the algorithm and the co-location facility to make windfall gains.

Earlier, capital markets regulator Sebi had penalised the NSE, Ramkrishna and Ravi Narayan and two other officials for lapses in hiring at the senior level. Ravi Narain was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NSE from April 1994 till March 2013, while Chitra Ramkrishna was MD and CEO of the NSE from April 2013 to December 2016.

Sebi observed that the NSE and its top administrators violated securities contract norms linking to the appointment of Subramanian as group operating officer and advisor to the managing director.