Supreme Court upholds statutory bail granted to NSE co-location scam accused Chitra Ramkrishna

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the bail granted to former National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chief Executive Officer Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the NSE co-location scam case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). [CBI v. Chitra Ramkrishna].A Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court ruling granting bail to Ramakrishna in the case."After we have heard learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the petitioner, we find no reason to interfere with the order impugned. However, we make it clear that the observation which has been made by the High Court is only limited for examining the scope and ambit of the default bail under Section 167(2) of the 2 Code and will not affect merits of the trial. The Special Leave Petitions are dismissed with the above observations. The question of law, if any, is left open.".Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain appeared for the CBI before the top court..The Delhi High Court had in September granted statutory bail to Ramkrishna and former Group Operating Officer of NSE, Anand Subramanian in a case registered against them by the CBI in connection with the NSE co-location scam. The CBI had moved the top court challenging the bail granted to Ramkrishna.In its order, the High Court had clarified that bail has been granted not on merits under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)..Ramkrishna, accused of frequently revising the designation and compensation of former NSE employee Anand Subramanian, challenged the order of a special CBI court that denied her bail earlier in May 2022.The case stems from a February 11 order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which found that Ramakrishna had allegedly involved in financial misdeeds relating to fixation and frequent revision of compensation of another former NSE employee Anand Subramanian in a disproportionate manner. She is alleged to have done this in cahoots with someone whom she claimed to be a “Siddha Purusha”.The CBI said that Subramanian while performing public duty to protect the interest of common investors, indulged in criminal conspiracy with other co-accused and caused huge advantage to various trading members/brokers and thus committed a serious economic offence.The other allegation against Ramkrishna was that she in touch through e-mails with the Himalayan Yogi who the CBI later claimed to be none other than Subramanian.Ramkrishna was recently granted bail in the money laundering case filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the co-location scam..BREAKING: Delhi High Court grants bail to former NSE CEO Chitra Ramkrishna in money laundering case.[Read order]