INDIA’S income tax department on Thursday (17) raided the premises of former National Stock Exchange MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer Anand Subramanian in Mumbai as part of a tax evasion investigation.
Ramkrishna made news after a recent order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said she was steered by a mystic, dwelling in the Himalayas, in the appointment of Subramanian as the exchange's group operating officer and advisor to the MD.
It levied a fine of Rs 30 million (£293,617) on Ramkrishna, Rs 20m (£195744) each on the NSE, Subramanian, former NSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain.
VR Narasimhan, who was the chief regulatory officer and compliance officer, was fined Rs 600,000 (£5,872).
According to the SEBI, Ramkrishna shared certain confidential information, including financial and business plans of the NSE, dividend scenario and financial results, with the mystic and even consulted him over the performance appraisals of the exchange's employees.
Ramkrishna was the managing director and chief executive officer of the NSE from April 2013 to December 2016.
In its order, the regulator noted that she refused to reveal the identity of the unknown person who she claimed 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. Similar restrictions are imposed on Narain for two years.
The SEBI also directed the NSE to forfeit the excess leave encashment of Rs 15.4m (£150,723) and the deferred bonus of Rs 28.3m (£276,979) of Ramkrishna.
In addition, the regulator barred the NSE from launching any new product for six months.
Established in 1992, the NSE is India’s largest stock exchange whose turnover surpasses the much older Bombay Stock Exchange by a large margin.
It also became the world’s largest derivatives exchange in 2021 by the number of contracts traded, according to the Futures Industry Association.
