Grotesquely mischievous indeed!

The details emerging from investigations into the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) co-location scam call for deep cleansing of the institution which is riddled with chronic cronyism. A cursory conclusion could be drawn on the lack of transparency in the institution that recorded a daily average turnover of well above Rs. 2 lakh crore last year and which is the world’s fourth largest exchange for cash equities in terms of the number of trades. What adds a bizarre twist to the entire episode is the revelation by its CEO of being guided by a Himalayan rishi, a faceless entity who refused to manifest himself in the human person, yet communicated and guided the accused CEO through emails. All that one can draw from these murky happenings is that the various regulatory and enforcement agencies that ought to keep its dealings steady, not merely failed to detect the malpractices committed over nearly a decade, but also helped cover up the murky goingson within the institution.

Currently, former CEO and MD of the NSE Chitra Ramakrishna is at the centre of the probe by the CBI and being interrogated for her alleged involvement in the case of preferential access to the NSE algo-trading platform. This enabled select brokers to obtain market price information ahead of the rest of the market leading to massive gains for them. Though an anonymous whistle-blower’s letter to the SEBI had informed of the alleged rigging and collusion of NSE and SEBI officials as early as 2015, the case did not draw the attention it ought to have drawn then itself.

The 190-page Forensic Audit report by Ernst & Young has uncovered several email exchanges between her and the unidentified ‘Himalayan Yogi’ guiding her on vital matters as to how to hire, whom to hire, emoluments and found no records of the interviewed and hired personnel in HR files. Speculation is rife that the emails received from ID rigyajursama@ outlook.com* were from none other than Anand Subramanian who was appointed her advisor and later promoted to Group Operating Officer shortly thereafter. It was he who was guiding her from the fictitious ID. He was promoted frequently and his scale was upgraded from initial Rs. 1.68 crore to Rs. 4.21 crore in merely three years. Mysteriously, even as his salary rose, his absence in office grew more and more. Although the non-human person behind the email guidance with regard to key business decisions had been detected in 2013, the matter remained under wraps and Chitra Ramkrishna was allowed a graceful exit in December 2016.

The NSE Scam and callous pursuit of the dramatis personae and failure to identify the ‘spiritual force’ by the SEBI call for a thorough probe into NSE affairs. Could there be anything more grotesquely mischievous than a CEO of the fourth largest bourse of the world being guided by a mysterious force? The case warrants not merely detection of lapses, malpractices, and a bid to cover up at various levels during the seven-year period but should also address bigger concerns such as fixing laxities by the NSE Board and regulator and loopholes in the controversial co-location facilities and high-frequency trades.