CBI opposes bail plea of Chitra, Arvind Subramanian

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday reserved an order on the bail applications of former MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer (GOO) Anand Subramanian in the NSE co-location case.

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal heard the submission from the accused as well the prosecution agency and posted the matter for May 9 for the orders in both the applications. The CBI had earlier opposed the bail applications of both the accused, saying that they could influence the witnesses and tamper with the evidence. It said that the nature and gravity of the offence were quite severe and had far-reaching repercussions on financial stability. The accused were arrested in the case related to the co-location scam, the FIR for which was registered in May 2018, amid fresh revelations about irregularities at the country's largest stock exchange.

The CBI is probing the alleged improper dissemination of information from the computer servers of the market exchanges to the stockbrokers. Earlier The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) penalized the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and its former CEOs Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narain and two other officials for lapses in recruitment at the senior level. Ravi Narain was the MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange from April 1994 till March 2013, while Chitra Ramakrishna was the MD and CEO of the NSE from April 2013 to December 2016. The CBI has also alleged that the NSE and its top executives violated securities contract norms relating to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as group operating officer and advisor to the managing director.