Editorial: Bizarre twist
The details emerging from an ongoing probe into the irregularities in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the role of its former Chief Executive Chitra Ramkrishna and her mysterious mentor — said to be a Himalayan Yogi — are bizarre and disturbing. The Centre owes an explanation to the people about its silence on the issue […]
The details emerging from an ongoing probe into the irregularities in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the role of its former Chief Executive Chitra Ramkrishna and her mysterious mentor — said to be a Himalayan Yogi — are bizarre and disturbing. The Centre owes an explanation to the people about its silence on the issue so far and why the inquiries are now being initiated as Ramkrishna, a high profile and controversial figure with an undue influence on the stock market, had quit way back in 2016. The main charge is that some private companies were allowed to abuse the server architecture of the NSE, India’s largest stock exchange, to gain unfair access that enabled them to login first to the server of the stock exchange to get the data before any other broker in the market. These allegations are serious and need to be investigated properly by multiple agencies to ascertain the wrongdoing. This is absolutely essential to restore investor confidence. In what appears to be a bizarre twist to the case, the former NSE chief has confessed to the CBI that she was being guided by an unnamed ‘Siddha Yogi’ living in the Himalayas in the appointment of her confidants, who the investigative agencies believe had access even to her emails. She was said to be communicating with this mysterious Baba, described by her as “Siddha-Purush” (a spiritual entity with no physical form), and had shared information, including the bourse’s financial projections, business plans and board agenda.
This is a dangerous case of mixing business and religion and allowing a mysterious spiritual guru to influence the decisions of the stock exchange. Allegations of corporate governance lapses have dogged the NSE for years. The exchange had planned to go public in 2017 but its listing was derailed by allegations that some high-frequency traders had unfair access through colocation servers, which could speed up algorithmic trading. It is absurd on the part of Ramkrishna to contend that sharing sensitive information such as dividend pay-out ratios, business plans and the performance appraisals of NSE employees with an unnamed mentor did not cause any harm. The Sebi probe also found the purported guru had substantial influence over the appointment of a mid-level executive, without any capital market experience, directly as an adviser to Ramkrishna. The market regulator had imposed a fine on her and also uploaded content on its official website narrating how she was involved in suspicious activities by leaking information to make illegal gains. Destruction of evidence is also suspected by the investigative agencies. The stock market in India has seen several scams, pointing to the need for continuous vigil and integrity on the part of stakeholders. All important decisions taken during Ramkrishna’s tenure should be subjected to a forensic audit and the guilty booked.
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