New Delhi, 09 July (H.S.):

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed by former National Stock Exchange (NSE) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chitra Ramkrishna challenging the applicability of the definition of public servant and public duty under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A Bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla held that the National Stock Exchange performs a public function and that Chitra Ramkrishna, as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, cannot dissociate herself from the functions discharged by the NSE while serving in that capacity.

The High Court also rejected Ramkrishna's challenge to the order granting sanction for her prosecution. She was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 6, 2022, following allegations raised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

According to the CBI's charge sheet, Ramkrishna abused her official position while taking key administrative and operational decisions. Earlier, on February 11, 2022, SEBI had accused Chitra Ramkrishna and other individuals of irregularities in the appointment of Anand Subramanian.

During questioning, Ramkrishna claimed that a mysterious yogi guided her decision-making process through email communications.

In the same case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey and former NSE Managing Director Ravi Narain.

During its investigation, the CBI recovered bill receipts, voice recording samples, original audio tapes, servers, and two laptops from the premises of iSec Services Private Limited, a firm linked to Sanjay Pandey.

Pandey has been accused of accepting Rs 4.54 crore to assist Chitra Ramkrishna by allegedly tapping MTNL telephone lines.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar