MUMBAI: Ravi Narain, Chitra Ramkrishna’s predecessor at NSE, was questioned by the CBI in Delhi on Saturday. He could be called in for further questioning, a person aware of the development said.
The questioning centred around the co-location case and one of its alleged beneficiaries, OPG Securities, the source added. This broker allegedly gained unfair access to NSE’s secondary server in its co-location facilities during 2012-2014, enabling it access to exchange data before other members in the same facilities.
Narain was quizzed in light of the fresh facts brought out by Sebi’s February 11 order against Ramkrishna, former MD &CEO of NSE, Anand Subramanian, ex-group operating officer and advisor to Ramkrishna, and himself, among others.
The order focused on alleged corporate governance lapses in Subramanian’s appointment and Ramkrishna’s sharing of confidential exchange information with an unknown person, whom she described as a yogi, “without physical persona”.
CBI’s present probe, post the Sebi order, is centred on ascertaining the identity of the unknown person or the yogi, whether the yogi has any links to the co-location scam of 2012-14 and other beneficiaries in the scam, if any. Its probe into the present matter is an extension of its investigation into co-location scam in which it filed an FIR in 2018.
A CBI official was not immediately available for comment. The central police agency questioned Ramkrishna for two days last week in her suburban Mumbai residence on the yogi, among other things, it’s learnt.Income tax authorities are also questioning Ramkrishna and Subramanian, who resides in Chennai, post the Sebi order. They’ve searched the premises of both to ascertain suspected tax evasion.
Narain as vice chairman, NSE, and member of its nomination and remuneration committee was showcaused for allowing Ramkrishna to resign in 2016 despite “having knowledge of such grave irregularities and misconduct on the part of Noticee no. 1 (Ramkrishna),” reads the Sebi order. The CBI swooped onto the scene shortly after tax authorities began their probe. CBI’s remit is to probe suspected corruption and misuse of office.