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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail to former NSE chairperson Chitra Ramakrishna, accused in a money laundering case related to phone tapping at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Justice Jasmeet Singh’s bench has given this decision.
The court had reserved its order in the matter on November 15.The former Managing Director of NSE, who was earlier arrested by the CBI in the alleged NSE co-location scam, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 14 last year in the present case. The High Court had granted him bail in the CBI case in September last year.
Justice Jasmeet Singh granted bail to Ramakrishna. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed her bail plea in the present case on grounds that she was the “mastermind” behind the conspiracy.
According to the ED, the phone tapping case pertains to the period from 2009 to 2017, when former NSE CEOs Ravi Narayan, Ramakrishna, Executive Vice President Ravi Varanasi and Head (Premises) Mahesh Haldipur and others hatched a conspiracy to defraud NSE and its employees. Seeking bail, Ramakrishna had argued that no scheduled offence was made out against her and the allegations also did not fall within the rigours of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Ramkrishna was appointed as Joint MD NSE in 2009 and remained in the position till March 31, 2013. She got elevated as MD and CEO on April 1, 2013. Her tenure at NSE ended in December 2016.
