SC refuses to quash corruption case against former NSE chief Chitra Ramkrishna

NEW DELHI: In a major setback to former NSE (National Stock Exchange) Managing Director and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to interfere with a Delhi High Court judgment. The High Court had dismissed her plea challenging her prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said the High Court had committed no error in its judgment.

"We are of view that no error could be said to have been committed by the High Court in passing the impugned judgement. The petitioner (Ramkrishna) was the MD and CEO of NSE. Her argument is that the NSE being a private/non govt company, cannot be said that the petitioner was discharging a public duty," said the Bench.

The bench said the trial court could decide the issue on its own merits.

The case against Ramkrishna stems from a February 11 order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The order found that she had allegedly been involved in financial irregularities related to the fixation and frequent revision of the compensation of former NSE employee Anand Subramanian.

Ramkrishna is also alleged to have acted in collusion with someone she described as a "Siddha Purusha". She denied the allegations and claimed she was innocent.

During its investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged that Subramanian, while performing a public duty to protect the interests of common investors, entered into a criminal conspiracy with other accused. The agency said this caused significant benefits to various trading members and brokers.

Another allegation against Ramkrishna was that she communicated by email with a 'Himalayan yogi'. The CBI later claimed that the person was none other than Subramanian.

Ramkrishna approached the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court in July rejected her plea challenging Sections 2(b) and 2(c)(viii) of the PC Act.

The High Court held that NSE performs a public duty. It said Ramkrishna, as its MD and CEO, could not be wholly separated from the functions of a stock exchange in which the public at large has an interest. It also rejected her challenge to the sanction granted for her prosecution under the PC Act.