Amid controversy over her sharing confidential information with a 'Himalayan yogi,' the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday, 18 February, questioned Chitra Ramkrishna, former CEO and Managing Director of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for over 12 hours.
The agency also issued look out circulars against Ramakrishna, former CEO Ravi Narain and former COO Anand Subramanian, PTI reported.
The questioning comes just a day after raids were conducted by the Income Tax department on the premises of Ramkrishna, Narain and Subramanian.
The crackdown comes after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) penalised the NSE and Ramakrishna for sharing confidential information with a 'yogi' and allegedly taking his advice on crucial decisions related to the NSE's functioning.
The 'Yogi' Controversy
The SEBI has penalised the NSE over violations in security contract rules and lapses in the hiring procedure for senior-level appointments.
As per a SEBI order dated 11 February, Ramkrishna had allowed her decisions to be swayed by a "spiritual force" during her tenure. As a fallout, former group operating officer and advisor to the MD, Anand Subramanian, who had allegedly been an associate of the 'yogi,' had drawn unjustified gains during Ramkrishna's tenure.
A fine of Rs 3 crore has been imposed on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on the NSE and Narain, as well as Rs 6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who had been serving as the chief regulatory officer and chief compliance officer.
“Ramkrishna stated that the third person was not Mr Subramanian; (but) the results of the forensic investigation conducted by EY (asked by Sebi and commissioned by NSE) concluded that the person using the email ID ‘rigyajursama@outlook.com’ was Mr Subramanian himself," the SEBI order stated.
The order further stated that no confidential information of NSE was disclosed to an unknown entity, but to the Group Operating Officer (GOO), who anyway had access to financial, operational and HR related information about NSE.
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