MUMBAI: For several years, Chitra Ramkrishna – one of the founding members of NSE and a former MD & CEO – sought directions for important business decisions from a yogi who lived in the Himalayas and used an email ID consisting of the names of three Vedas.
Ramkrishna admitted she had never met the unnamed yogi but had communicated with him for about 20 year on the email ID rigyajursama@outlook.com and took directions for some of the most important corporate and business decisions. Among several directions, the unknown yogi had even ordered Ramkrishna to appoint Anand Subramanian, a rank outsider with scant experience in finance or how stock exchanges are run, as chief strategic advisor. The yogi also directed Ramkrishna to ensure three increments for Subramanian within the first year of his appointment to about Rs 4 crore, elevation to the position of Group Operating Officer and advisor to the MD (that is Ramkrishna), ensure all his international air travels were in first class only and also allocate a cabin next to the MD’s. Though Subramanian was not marked as a ‘key managerial personnel’ of India’s largest exchange, he had access to even the most confidential matters of NSE.
All these were revealed during a Sebi investigation relating to wrongdoings by Ramkrishna, her predecessor Ravi Narain and some other top NSE functionaries between April 2013 and December 2016. The report was made public on Friday on the regulator’s website. The report showed Ramkrishna even shared NSE’s business projections for five-years, financials, dividend ratio, business plans, board agenda, consultations and several other important information with the yogi whose mail ID was a combination of Rig, Yajur and Sama, the names of three of the four Vedas. Ramkrishna even consulted the yogi relating to for performance appraisals of NSE’s employees and got a directive to give A+ (the highest grade) to Subramanian.
Ramakrishna did not reply to TOI’s requests for comments. She referred to the yogi as ‘Sironmani’ while the yogi addressed her ‘Chitsom’. Although she had told Sebi that the person was a Himalayan yogi, the emails reproduced in the report point towards the person’s familiarity with corporate practices, sources told TOI. Sebi has fined Ramkrishna Rs 3 crore and Subramanian Rs 2 crore.
Ramkrishna admitted she had never met the unnamed yogi but had communicated with him for about 20 year on the email ID rigyajursama@outlook.com and took directions for some of the most important corporate and business decisions. Among several directions, the unknown yogi had even ordered Ramkrishna to appoint Anand Subramanian, a rank outsider with scant experience in finance or how stock exchanges are run, as chief strategic advisor. The yogi also directed Ramkrishna to ensure three increments for Subramanian within the first year of his appointment to about Rs 4 crore, elevation to the position of Group Operating Officer and advisor to the MD (that is Ramkrishna), ensure all his international air travels were in first class only and also allocate a cabin next to the MD’s. Though Subramanian was not marked as a ‘key managerial personnel’ of India’s largest exchange, he had access to even the most confidential matters of NSE.
All these were revealed during a Sebi investigation relating to wrongdoings by Ramkrishna, her predecessor Ravi Narain and some other top NSE functionaries between April 2013 and December 2016. The report was made public on Friday on the regulator’s website. The report showed Ramkrishna even shared NSE’s business projections for five-years, financials, dividend ratio, business plans, board agenda, consultations and several other important information with the yogi whose mail ID was a combination of Rig, Yajur and Sama, the names of three of the four Vedas. Ramkrishna even consulted the yogi relating to for performance appraisals of NSE’s employees and got a directive to give A+ (the highest grade) to Subramanian.
Ramakrishna did not reply to TOI’s requests for comments. She referred to the yogi as ‘Sironmani’ while the yogi addressed her ‘Chitsom’. Although she had told Sebi that the person was a Himalayan yogi, the emails reproduced in the report point towards the person’s familiarity with corporate practices, sources told TOI. Sebi has fined Ramkrishna Rs 3 crore and Subramanian Rs 2 crore.