NEW DELHI: Troubles grew for Chitra Ramkrishna, former MD of the NSE, and Anand Subramanian, her colleague, as the Income Tax department raided their premises in Mumbai and Chennai, IT sources confirmed.
Ramkrishna has been in the eye of a storm ever since Sebi on February 11 show-caused her and her former advisor for sharing sensitive information on the exchange with an unknown person.
The Mumbai wing of the IT department is heading the searches, it is learnt, that happened across Mumbai and Chennai and come in the wake of the Sebi order.
The Mumbai searches pertain to Ramkrishna’s residence and the Chennai one to Subramanian’s premises, as per sources. The searches began this morning.
Ramkrishna described the unknown person as a yogi dwelling in the Himalayan ranges. The information was shared over her official email and the unknown person responded likewise with her.
Sebi said the hiring of Subramanian on an incommensurately large salary of over one crore from a subsidiary of Balmer Laurie where he last drew Rs 15 lakh was allegedly at the instance of the yogi.
Some of the information shared was of financial projections of the IPO bound NSE, which has been barred from introducing any new product for six months.
Officials said the searches are aimed to check charges of tax evasion and financial irregularities against her and others.
Apart from this, the order said Ramkrishna had shared certain internal confidential information, including financial and business plans of NSE, dividend scenario and financial results, with the yogi and even consulted him over the performance appraisals of the exchange's employees.
Ramkrishna was MD and CEO of NSE from April 2013 to December 2016.
Sebi levied a fine of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Subramanian, former NSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain, and Rs 6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who was the chief regulatory officer and compliance officer.
Ramkrishna and Subramanian have been restrained from associating with any market infrastructure institution or any intermediary registered with Sebi for three years, while the same for Narain is two years.
Sebi also directed NSE to forfeit the excess leave encashment of Rs 1.54 crore and the deferred bonus of Rs 2.83 crore, of Ramkrishna.
In addition, Sebi barred NSE from launching any new product for six months.
Following these revelations, the Congress party had demanded that the government bring a white paper on the functioning of the NSE.
"The finance ministry and the prime minister should come out with a white paper on the state of affairs of National Stock Exchange and on the shocking activities of an 'invisible Baba' who was dictating terms to the former CEO of the exchange," Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh told reporters two days back.
(With PTI Inputs)