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Former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla’s fate hangs in balance as market regulator SEBI is likely to take a call in the next few days on allowing him to continue as the chairman of India’s largest bourse NSE.
Source close to the development told BusinessLine that Finance Ministry is expected to clarify by Friday if it was going to allow Chawla, other bureaucrats named in the Aircel-Maxis case by the CBI, to be prosecuted. If the Ministry allows CBI to go ahead, then SEBI may also have to take a call on Chawla’s role at the NSE.
Chawla, NSE Chairman since 2016, has been named in the bribery scandal along with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, former Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Ashok Kumar Jha and serving IAS officers including Joint Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, director Deepak Kumar Singh and an under-secretary Ram Sharan.
CBI filed its charge-sheet in the matter in July last year but is waiting to launch prosecution against them. According to recent amendment to rules, a government nod is required to prosecute acting and former bureaucrats and Cabinet ministers. Finance Ministry gave its ascent to the CBI to act against Chidambaram but the same is awaited against bureaucrats. The CBI court had asked the agency to secure government nod by Friday.
Chawla declined to comment. Chawla, who was also the non-Executive Chairman of YES Bank, had to step down from the post recently citing personal reasons.
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