NSE co-location scam: ED questions Chitra Ramkrishna on 5 key points

ED asked about the alleged manipulation of the NSE when Ramkrishna was at the helm of affairs at the exchange.

New Delhi: In its ongoing probe in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location scam case, the Enforcement Directorate has questioned former NSE Managing Director Chitra Ramkrishna on five key points among others, which are yet to be unanswered. ED asked about the alleged manipulation of the NSE when Ramkrishna was at the helm of affairs at the bourse, said officials privy to the investigation. The federal agency had asked how the co-location scam could take place when Ramkrishna was holding the post of CEO and MD of the NSE. 

The investigators also asked about the recent disclosures that came to the fore in relation with the alleged governance lapses in appointing Anand Subramanian as the chief strategic advisor and his re-designation as group operating officer and advisor to Ramkrishna when she was the NSE MD.

Subramanian, NSE`s former group operating officer, was arrested by the CBI in Chennai on 24 February 2022.

The ED investigators also asked about the charges of brokers being given preferential access to the NSE`s trading system in the form of a co-location facility through which they bought "rack space" for their servers. CBI investigation has revealed that these traders obtained faster access to the Exchange`s data feed.

According to the officials, the interrogation to disclose the said key points was concluded at the Tihar Jail in Delhi. Ramkrishna is being lodged in jail after she was arrested by the CBI on March 6 in the alleged NSE co-location scam.