Former NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna on Friday told the Central Bureau of Investigation to ask the National Stock Exchange why her laptops and other devices she was using during her tenure as the exchange’s MD/CEO were destroyed as e-waste.
No info on Yogi
According to sources, Ramkrishna appeared calm and composed during the questioning that lasted a few hours.
She, however, did not provide any details on the mysterious yogi who she had claimed was guiding her in running the NSE, one of the world’s biggest bourses with a market capitalisation of $4 trillion. Sources said she remained silent on questions about the yogi. She also told the CBI that her visit to Seychelles was official.
A recent SEBI order had revealed that India’s largest stock exchange allowed Chitra’s laptop to be destroyed as e-waste though it could have contained vital proof, including the IP address of the mysterious yogi who sent her multiple emails over several years instructing her on NSE’s operational matters. An earlier forensic audit showed that only Ramkrishna and then Chief Operating Officer Anand Subramanian wereimaged/checked while the laptops assigned to them were disposed of as e-wasteby the NSE. Even their personal emails were not available for forensic audit.
Legal experts told BusinessLine that whenever scandals or major irregularitiesinvolving senior officials surface at sensitivemarket infrastructure institutions like the NSE, their digital footprints and traces have to be preserved until the matter is closed.
It is not clear under what circumstances or under whose orders the NSE destroyed Ramkrishna’s devices.
Ramkrishna was ousted from the NSE in 2016 for her role in the co-location and algo trading scam and abuse of power in the appointment of Subramanian. The probe found that Ramkrishna ran the NSE with impunity.
No one from the senior management, board, or the promoters — which include large government institutions and banks — ever objected to her ways. Instead, Ramkrishna was given ₹44 crore as pending dues and salary when she left the NSE.
SEBI had observed that there was a glaring conspiracy of a money-making scheme involving NSE’s boss with the unknown person.