Tax searches on ex-NSE head accused of sharing info with Himalayan guru
New Delhi/Mumbai: The Income Tax Department on Thursday raided the premises of former NSE MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer, Anand Subramanian, in Mumbai as part of a tax evasion investigation against them, official sources said.
The searches are aimed to check and gather evidence on the charges of financial irregularities and alleged tax evasion against the two, they said.
The premises of Ramkrishna and Subramanian were raided by officials of the Mumbai investigation wing of the Income Tax department early morning.
Ramkrishna hit the headlines after a recent Sebi order said she was steered by a yogi, dwelling in the Himalayan ranges, in the appointment of Anand Subramanian as the exchange's group operating officer and advisor to the managing director (MD).
The Securities and Exchange Board of India charged Ramkrishna and others for alleged governance lapses in the appointment of Subramanian as the chief strategic advisor and his re-designation as group operating officer and advisor to MD.
Sebi levied a fine of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Subramanian, former NSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain, and Rs 6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who was the chief regulatory officer and compliance officer.
The Sebi order added that Ramkrishna shared certain internal confidential information, including financial and business plans of NSE, dividend scenario and financial results, with the yogi and even consulted him over the performance appraisals of the exchange's employees.
Ramkrishna was the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of NSE from April, 2013 to December, 2016.
The regulator noted in its order that she refused to reveal the identity of the unknown person and sought to claim that the unknown person is a spiritual force.
Ramkrishna and Subramanian have been restrained from associating with any market infrastructure institution or any intermediary registered with Sebi for three years, while the same for Narain is two years.
Sebi also directed NSE to forfeit the excess leave encashment of Rs 1.54 crore and the deferred bonus of Rs 2.83 crore, of Ramkrishna.
In addition, Sebi barred NSE from launching any new product for six months.
Following these revelations, the Congress party had demanded that the government bring a white paper on the functioning of the NSE.
"The Finance ministry and the Prime Minister should come out with a white paper on the state of affairs of National Stock Exchange and on the shocking activities of an 'invisible Baba' who was dictating terms to the former CEO of the exchange," Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh told reporters two days back.
The Congress on Thursday questioned the PM and the Finance minister on their silence over the functioning of the National Stock Exchange. "On 15th February, the Congress raised the issue of a 'Baba' running the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and a complicit Modi Government-Finance Ministry-Ministry of Corporate Affairs-SFIO-FIU-CBI-ED remaining mum," Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
"The income tax (department) has woken up belatedly. The finance and corporate ministries remain in denial," he alleged.
The Congress leader also said questions remain as to how a 'Baba' was remotely running the NSE, which has a market capital of Rs 300 lakh crore. "Will the prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) tell - Where is the 'Baba'? Why can't his IP address be traced? How do you rule out 'insider trading'? Despite info, what were PM-FM-SEBI doing since 2016," Surjewala asked.
