CBI files chargesheet against ex-chief of NSE & Subramanian

Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out searches at nearly dozen locations in connection with its money laundering probe into the NSE co-location scandal. Searches were carried out in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Chennai.

The federal agency had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2018 based on a criminal case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Both Ramkrishna and Subramanian are currently behind the bars.

While Ramkrishna was arrested by the CBI last month, her alleged accomplice Anand Subramanian was arrested by the CBI on February 26.

The case stems from allegations of providing unfair and preferential access to its servers for certain entities under the co-location set-up in 2012-14. Interest in the case revived after the Securities and Exchange Board of India order on February 11 that contained details of email exchanges between Ramkrishna and a so-called “Himalayan yogi”.

Many of the emails contained confidential information and urged the repeated advancement of Subramanian at the NSE, despite his apparent lack of qualifications.

According to the CBI, Subramanian was the person who impersonated as a ‘Himalayan Yogi’ and said to have influenced the decision of Ramkrishna at the NSE.

Denying involvement in the alleged scam, Subramanian had claimed that despite having fully cooperated with the probe, the CBI arrested him in a “mechanical manner”. Ramkrishna has also denied any wrongdoing.

Claiming that Ramkrishna was involved in “various malpractices”, the CBI last month had told a local court that it was investigating these trips to examine whether they had gained pecuniary advantage. It also said Subramanian had impersonated as the so-called Himalayan Yogi and influenced the decisions of Ramkrishna at the NSE.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing whether money was laundered by Ramkrishna and Subramanian. The agencies are also likely to send Letters Rogatory (LRs) to countries where alleged proceeds of crime are parked.

The CBI last month had told a Court that it had constituted a special investigation team comprising nearly 30 officials, including senior officers, to investigate the alleged stock market manipulation case.

Executives of the National Stock Exchange including former managing director Ravi Narain have already been quizzed as part of its probe, the CBI had said. It is also investigating possible roles of Securities and Exchange Board of India officials.