A Delhi Court on Wednesday pulled up the CBI for the tardy investigation in the NSE co-location scam case, saying that the magnitude of the case “will be big” and the reputation of the country was at stake and sent former group operating officer (GOO) of National Stock Exchange Anand Subramanian to 14-day judicial custody.
“Will this go on for years? The CBI investigation is open-ended and goes on for years. All our credibility will go. They (investors) will all go to China,” said Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal, who remanded Subramanian to judicial custody till March 23 after he was produced before him on the expiry of his police custody.
“People invest their money in India. They think the NSE is fair. If they come to know that something fishy is going on, who will invest money? You are taking this investigation very lightly,” the judge added.
The former GOO was arrested by the CBI on February 24 and was remanded for custodial interrogation. Earlier, the court had sent former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange Chitra Ramkrishna to seven-day CBI custody in the case.
On Wednesday, CBI told the court that a team of 30 members was conducting the probe in the matter.
It further said that the former GOO was kept at its office during his police custody remand and was confronted with Ramakrishna but there was no “fruitful” outcome.
However, the court was not impressed with the submissions of the agency and said “You did not take him to the scene of the crime. You are sitting here in the CBI office. You can relax. What about the role of SEBI? It is a capital market watchdog. Does it only growl or can it bite also?.” The court also questioned the agency on treating the accused “gently” and observed that Ramakrishna had come to the CBI office and “was served coffee and later arrested”.
In the co-location facility offered by the NSE, brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises giving them faster access to the markets.
It is alleged by the investigating agency that some brokers in connivance with insiders abused the algorithm and the co-location facility to make windfall profits.
On March 7, the trial court had sent former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange Chitra Ramkrishna to seven-day CBI custody in connection with the case, saying her custodial interrogation was required for fair and proper investigations.
“It appears that the custodial interrogation of the above accused would be required to find out the detailed modus operandi adopted by her in conspiracy with the other co-accused persons involved in the present case including co-accused Anand Subramanian. The present case may be of unimaginable magnitude,” the court had said.
The CBI had argued that Chitra Ramakrishna’s custodial interrogation was needed to unearth the criminal conspiracy and the role of other NSE officials and brokers in the company.
It had submitted that the material already collected in the case shows that Ramkrishna in conspiracy with Subramanian had improperly hired him by coercing the HR department of NSE.
Thereafter, she, in conspiracy with Subramanian, influenced the officials of NSE to facilitate him in having access to important decision-making processes of the NSE. During the same period, M/s OPG Securities was gaining undue advantages in NSE by logging into the secondary server, it had said.
The CBI had further alleged that Ramkrishna, with Subramanian, abused her official position as the MD of NSE and got him appointed as her Chief Strategic Advisor/ Consultant by creating this post of Chief Strategic Advisor to accommodate and appoint him bypassing the prescribed due procedures at NSE. PTI ADS RKS RKS
