Who’s the mysterious Yogi, Siddha Purusha, Paramahamsa who ran the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India through emails to NSE head Chitra Ramakrishna? This critical question, which can be the key to open the monumental frauds buried by the NSE, is left open in the probe by the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) — despite leads available to it. Worse still, the SEBI probe has reduced the fraudulent proxy control of NSE by outsiders, possibly by the infamous cabal that had captured the NSE, into merely a corporate governance issue.
The NSE’s history, even the SEBI is aware, is steeped in huge frauds. The current Chitra deceit in sheer numbers is just a tiny part of the NSE shenanigans — in which she had had a prominent role in the past — believed to be in lakhs of crores. Unless seen as a sequence of the NSE’s fraudulent history, the present Chitra fraud will look pale.
NSE snakepit under cabal
The NSE, with a market capitalisation of Rs 255 lakh crore, more than the nominal GDP of India, has been an endless pit of venomous snakes since the days of P Chidambaram (PC), the lilywhite dhoti-clad finance minister – something too well-known in financial and regulatory circles for simple denial. How the NSE stood captured by PC and his cabal was exposed by two leading books, neither challenged.
One, by Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu in their book Absolute Power (2021) detailing regulatory capture of SEBI by the cabal and the co-location (COLO) scam. Second, by Palak Shah’s Market Mafia whose subtitle “Chronicle of India’s high-tech stock market scandal and the cabal that went scot-free” told all. The cabal close to PC, according to the authors, had the SEBI and NSE under their thumb. PC himself was a huge punter in stocks through benamis. A former chairman of SEBI even told Manmohan Singh about it. But like in every other case, Manmohan Singh remained silent.
The NSE cabal backed by PC was so powerful that they locked up the SEBI officials, who went for a probe, inside a room. A livid SEBI chief Damodaran thrashed Ravi Narain, then NSE Chief and Chitra, his deputy, over phone. (Absolute Power p204) The high-tech COLO scam involved allowing select stock brokers on the premises of the NSE — like allowing thieves into a police station. That was where the NSE cabal and select brokers mixed up and defrauded millions of investors. The SEBI half-found the scam suspected to be in lakhs of crores and left the NSE with a measly fine of Rs 625 crore. But, thanks to a public interest litigation, the COLO scam is under investigation by the CBI under Delhi High Court orders in 2018. The CBI, which dragged its feet for years, has become active after the SEBI brought out the Chitra fraud. Now move on to the latest Chitra-NSE fraud.
Known and unknown
The core dramatis personae in the ongoing Chitra-NSE saga are two. One, too well known. The other, totally unknown.
The known actor — or actress — was the famous, now infamous, Chitra, the highest paid Indian woman executive, most celebrated leader of the Indian securities market till 2016, honoured with the 2013 Business Leadership Award by Forbes magazine.
The unknown actor is a mysterious player who describes himself as “Sironmani” and who, Chitra reveres, as a “Yogi”, “Siddha Purusha”, “Paramahamsa” all rolled into one. There are some side actors too.
The story half unveiled by SEBI findings stands still at an interval. The unknown other half is about who the mysterious person is. Unveiling him will be the climax of not just the Chitra part of the NSE saga, but expose far more than that. The SEBI without police powers of arrest, custodial interrogation and more, has done its best so far. But has it followed all the leads that were available? Seems not.
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Dematerialised Yogi
In her present fraudulent case, Chitra first told SEBI, in April 2018, that she had met the Siddha Purusha (let us call him ‘SP’) in Swami Malai Temple in Delhi and many holy places. She said the ‘SP’ might be living in the Himalayan ranges, claiming he was the spiritual force guiding her for over 20 years. But when asked to identify who ‘SP’ was, she changed her storyline and claimed that the Yogi did not have a physical personae. Like the dematerialised shares she is familiar with, could turn materialised, she said the (dematerialised) ‘SP’ could materialise himself at will! She asserted that his spiritual powers do not require him to have any such physical coordinates.
With her exotic logic Chitra landed SEBI in confusion on whether ‘SP’ is dematerialised Yogi or Physical Bhogi. Whatever he was, ‘SP’ was having and using a mail id — rigjyajursama@outlook.com — to guide Chitra. Though not, as Chitra says, in material form himself, ‘SP’ obviously needed a computer in material form with wifi connection to guide her from remote locations. Note the email id — rigyajursama — is the adjunction of the noble Rig, Yajur and Sama, the three Vedas. All frauds look for noble cover. Now read on for the more interesting part of the story.
Yogi materialises in Holy Seychelles
“Today you are looking awesome. You must learn different ways to plait your hair which will make your hair interesting and appealing. Just a free advice, I know you will grab this. Keep Mid March a bit free.” — This is an email to Chitra dated Feb 18, 2015 celebrating and contributing ideas to improve her looks.
“Keep bags ready. I am planning to travel to Seychelles next month. will try if you can come with me, before Kanchan goes to London with Kanchana and Bhargava and you to New Zealand with two children. HK is the preferred transit or Singapore for onward journey. In case you need help please let me know. Seshu will do the needful. If you know swimming then we could enjoy swimming and sea bath in Seychelles. I am asking my tour operator to connect with Kanchan for all our tickets.” — This is an email dated a day earlier, Feb 17, 2015, inviting Chitra for “swimming” and “sea bath” in Seychelles.
“I overheard with Kanchan when you said lets pack and leave, Get ready countdown starts now I accommodate for Seychelles where you can chill it out.” — This email is dated a week later, Feb 25, 2015 inviting Chitra for a “chillout”.
“I am on a trip to India and in Delhi on 7th and 8th March and will be happy to meet on any of these two dates at your convenience. Since 7th will be a tight schedule. Will March 8th forenoon work? We will meet Vasant Vihar at my Delhi Office. Looking forward to hearing from you.” This email is dated Mar 2, 2015 – a week later to the previous, asking to meet Chitra in Delhi.
“Did you hear that Makara Kundala song I sent? You must hear the resonance of that iterations. I am happy to see cheer on your face and absolutely from your heart. I did rejoice the time yesterday with you. These small things you did for yourself make you feel younger and energetic.” – This energising email to Chitra is dated Sep 16, 2015, months later.
Who sent these titillating emails to Chitra? Any guesses? It is ‘SP’, the Yogi. The dematerialised Yogi materialises to her not in the holy Himalayas, Kashi, or Prayag, but in Seychelles, Singapore, Hong Kong and Delhi. The lady’s secretary mails to ‘SP’ on March 2, “Ms. Ramkrishna will be pleased to meet you on Sunday, March 08, 2015. As regards the time and venue for the meeting we will touch base with you.”
Does one need a seer to say that the lady the Forbes magazine celebrated as the Business Leader of 2013 is a prevaricating fraud?
Not just fun, but more
Clearly the mysterious ‘SP’ – or the remote one behind him – is no saffron-clad Yogi, but a dhoti- or suit-clad bhogi who wants to swim, have a sea bath and chill out with Chitra, but does not stop at that. Their rendezvous is not just fun loving chilling out in Seychelles. It goes far beyond fun, possibly into doing something far more serious and purposeful to continue the cabal’s control over the NSE. But why did the Forbes’ Woman of the Year Awardee and highest-paid woman executive in India take instructions like a school student to manage the NSE? The answer is that the cabal which ran the SEBI and the NSE favoured her with the top post by a process like inheritance even without an advertisement (Absolute Power p164). How could Chitra, favoured by the cabal, be independent of it?
Do the emails then testify to the continuing cabal control of the NSE as before 2014, even after the government that promoted and protected them was dethroned in Delhi? Did the SEBI probe dwarf the fraudulent outside control of the NSE, possibly by the infamous cabal that had captured and dominated the NSE, into just an issue of breach of corporate governance? For answer to the questions, await the next part — Cabal ran the NSE by fake Yogi mails even after 2014?
S Gurumurthy
Editor, Thuglak, and commentator on economic and political affairs