Former NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna denied bail by Delhi court in money laundering case
She has been accused of illegal surveillance of employees of the stock exchange and favouring certain brokers on its trading platform.
A Central Bureau of Investigation court on Monday denied bail to former managing director of the National Stock Exchange Chitra Ramkrishna in a money laundering case, reported Bar and Bench. Details of the order will be released later on Monday.
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Ramkrishna on July 14 in connection to a money laundering investigation related to the alleged illegal phone tapping of NSE employees between 2009 and 2017. She was arrested after being booked under provisions of the Prevention of Money.
At the time of her arrest, Ramakrishna was already in judicial custody in the alleged co-location scam. In this case, the CBI had arrested Ramkrishna and former group operating officer of the NSE, Anand Subramanian. The case pertains to allegations of preferential access to the algorithmic trading platform of the stock exchange that allowed certain brokers to trade before the markets opened.
The money laundering case against Ramkrishna was registered on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Enforcement Directorate also booked former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey, former chief of the NSE Ravi Narain and other top employees of the stock exchange.
Pandey is the founder of private firm iSec Services Private Ltd which has been accused of carrying out illegal electronic surveillance of NSE employees. The surveillance took place during the same time as the co-location scam, according to the Enforcement Directorate. The central agency has alleged that Ramkrishna got transcripts of calls made by NSE employees from iSec Services. The firm was allegedly paid Rs 4.54 crore in return.
The special CBI court had reserved its order in Ramakrishna’s bail plea on August 25. The Enforcement Directorate had opposed the bail plea, saying the investigation in the matter was not over, reported PTI.