With Chitra Ramkrishna's arrest, CBI continues its probe in the NSE-Chitra Scam

Chitra Ramkrishna, the former MD and CEO of India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) was finally arrested on Sunday, March 6, 2022, after a special CBI court rejected her anticipatory bail plea on Saturday. The case pertains to the NSE-Himalayan Yogi scam that caught the nation's attention.

Chitra Ramkrishna is now under arrest. Photo: Getty Images

Chitra Ramkrishna, the ex-Chief of NSE, had sought the guidance of a Himalayan Yogi to make decisions during her tenure as the Managing Director at India's largest stock exchange. During her tenure, she frequently took out-of-character decisions by illegally sharing crucial and confidential data with the mysterious yogi in the belief that she is being guided well. She also illegally appointed a so-called ''consultant'' named Anand Subramanian under the guidance of the Himalayan Yogi, who was then promoted to the rank of the Group Operating Officer. 

When the matter came to light, the CBI started its investigation.   

Photo: Getty Images

Chitra was first questioned by the CBI on February 18, 19 and 22, 2022, and her home was searched by the CBI on February 24. During this search, her laptop and phone were seized. This was followed by raids from the Income-tax department as details of financial irregularities at the NSE came out. Chitra was also later questioned by a senior forensic psychologist from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), who said that she was evasive in her responses.  

Chitra then applied for anticipatory bail (relief from probable future arrest). But the bail was not allowed by a special CBI Court on Saturday, March 5, due to a barrage of reasons. Without the protection of anticipatory bail, she was arrested by the CBI the very next day on Sunday, who were curious to ''dig for the truth''.

Chitra will be produced before a local court on Monday, March 7, 2022, where the CBI will seek the right to interrogate her while she is in custody.

Here are the details on how the entire story unfolded: 

THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THAT LED TO THE ARRESTS 

1. The co-location scam was investigated by the CBI in 2018.
2. The CBI stumbled on mail evidence between Chitra and the Himalayan Yogi in 2018, but they let it go as Chitra had left the company in 2016.
3. The CBI then started investigating again on Anand Subramanian and Chitra Ramkrishna in February 2022.
4. On February 25, 2022, Anand Subramanian is arrested.  
5. Chita's anticipatory bail is rejected by a Special CBI Court on March 5, 2022.
6. Chitra Ramkrishna is arrested on March 6, 2022.

THE CBI SPECIAL COURT DRAMA

Photo: Getty Images

1. Chitra had applied for anticipatory bail in a special CBI Court, to grant herself protection from arrest.
2. But the court refused to protect her saying that the charges against Chitra were "grave and serious". The court said that since Chitra had misled the CBI investigations by falsely adding "a Yogi" to the story, she will be treated as a person who was involved in the matter, instead of being treated as someone who had no clue of the matter. The court also found that since a senior psychologist found Chitra to be evasive while questioning, the charges on the ex-Chief of NSE were grave. 
3. The court also brutally called out both, the CBI and SEBI, for their laid-back approach to the case. The court said that the agencies did not take any action against the people involved (i.e. Chitra and Anand) in the co-location scam despite having evidence since 2018.
4. The court also called out SEBI for not being crude and active in acting against Chitra and Anand, despite being the entity responsible to ensure the capital markets function well. The court said that while the scam resulted in illegal profiteering by some brokers, it also broke the trust of stakeholders.
5. In the court, CBI opposed Chitra's bail application saying that they wanted to ''dig out the truth'' and confront her with Anand Subramanian. 
6. The court also refused to believe that no one at the NSE was aware of the scam and hinted there might be other executives being part of this crime. The court also raised concern over possible tampering of evidence by Chitra. 

Chitra, the Ex MD and CEO of NSE. Photo: Getty Images

THE ISSUE THAT IS NOW UNDER THE LIMELIGHT

Chitra Ramkrishna, who had sought the guidance of this Himalayan, had made several fishy decisions during her tenure.

Anand Subramanian's appointment was very suspicious. There was no legal documentation of any interviews conducted for Anand's role. When Anand joined the firm, he had literally come into the NSE world, out of thin air, and then had suddenly risen through the ranks.

What was perplexing was the salary perks he received- while at his previous job he was making Rs 15 lakh, his move into the NSE was rewarded with a salary of Rs 1.4 crore. In three years, his salary jumped to around Rs 4.2 crore. Why? Well, his work-days had increased from a ridiculous 4 days to 5 days.

So, why did Chitra believe in this yogi? The Himalayan Yogi, who she claimed she had met 20 years ago on a beach, was apparently a "siddh purush'' and had been guiding Chitra with her personal matters too. In the context of NSE, the Yogi would guide Chitra via mails using an email id called 'rigyajursama@outlook.com', where he would dole out advisories on work and personal matters. He would even compliment her looks on particular days.

The NSE building. Photo: Getty Images

TWIST IN THE TALE

The matter was investigated by two parties - first by the CBI who came up with a 190-page report that did not conclude who the yogi was, but showcased the barrage of highly scandalous emails that were exchanged between Anand and the Yogi.

The second investigation was conducted by EY Forensics, who came up with the evidence that the Yogi was none other than Anand Subramanian himself. 

This finally led the CBI to arrest Chitra Ramkrishna, the lady and the ex-boss of NSE.