SC refuses relief to Chitra Ramkrishna
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere in a petition filed by former National Stock Exchange (NSE) Managing Director and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna challenging her prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) on the ground that she was not a public servant. Earlier, the Delhi High Court also refused her petition against prosecuting her under the PC Act. The apex court’s Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran held that tainted Chitra’s contention that she could not be treated as a public servant could be raised before the trial court.
“We are of the view that no error could be said to have been committed by the High Court in passing the impugned judgment. The petitioner was the MD and CEO of NSE. The argument is that NSE is a private/ non govt company. It cannot be said that the petitioner was discharging a public duty. We are of the view that this point can be raised in the course of the trial. Let this issue be decided by the trial court on its own merits,” ordered the apex Court.
The case against Chitra Ramkrishna stems from a February 11 order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which found that she was involved in financial misdeeds relating to fixation and frequent revision of compensation of another former NSE employee, Anand Subramanian. Citing her communications with Anand Subramanian, the agency said that her claim in manipulating the stock exchange was under the advice of someone whom she claimed to be a “Siddha Purusha.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Anand Subramanian, while performing a public duty to protect the interests of common investors, indulged in criminal conspiracy with other co-accused and caused a huge advantage to various trading members/ brokers. The other allegation against Chitra Ramkrishna was that she was in touch through email with a Himalayan Yogi, who the CBI later claimed to be none other than Subramanian.
Challenging the trial court order, she claimed that she was not a public servant and was not doing any public duty as NSE’s Managing Director. The High Court and Supreme Court had held that the NSE performs a public duty and that Chitra Ramkrishna, as its MD and CEO, could not be wholly separated from the functions of the stock exchange in which the public at large has an interest. It had also rejected her challenge to the sanction granted for her prosecution under the PC Act, said the courts, ratifying the findings of the CBI.
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