‘Mystery Baba’ influence on India’s largest stock exchange

NSE is India’s biggest stock trade with virtual syndication in the subordinate portion, where billions of contracts get traded. Indeed, India’s head bourse is the world’s biggest when it accompanies the highest derivatives contracts getting traded.

The Center might order a probe into charges that previous CEO and MD of NSE Chitra Ramkrishna shared private data about India’s biggest stock trade with an unknown person, whom she depicted as a ‘The Enlightened One’ without an actual persona who lived in the Himalayas and spoke with her just through email.

This ‘Baba’ also gets a little-known employee of a public sector company hired as the chief strategy officer (CSO) of the stock exchange, a position that didn’t exist earlier, at an annual salary package of Rs 1.38 crore, more than nine times his previous package of Rs 15 lakh.

The ‘Baba’ gets the CEO to promote the CSO year after year to make him the group operating officer (GOO), even exempt him from the five-day work-week, allow him to come in only for three days and work the rest of the time at will.

“SEBI’s examination found that the said unknown person had significantly influenced the decision making of Ramkrishna as reflected from the emails exchanged between them as pursued by Sebi,” stated the market regulator in its 190-page order.

The order discusses the previous NSE manager sharing the trade’s classified data, for example, authoritative design, monetary outcomes and HR strategy to this obscure individual, who went by the email address [email protected].

Ramkrishna said she met the “Baba” on the banks of Ganga 20 years prior and he gave her no locational coordinates except for she took his direction on numerous individual and expert matters.

She said, “Their spiritual powers do not require them to have any such physical coordinates. Along the way, he would manifest at will and I did not have any locational coordinates, I requested Him for a way in which I could seek His guidance whenever I felt the need. Accordingly, He gave me an id on which I could send my requests.”

Government sources rubbished the ‘silly’ Baba story set forward by Ramkrishna with all due respect and said messages recuperated during an examination, at first sight, layout a lawbreaker lead on her part, and an examination would be arranged to discover the character of the obscure individual as the matter worries monetary security of the country.

They said examination is likewise expected to discover the reason why the NSE arrange off her laptop briskly without inspecting it and who took the choice not to safeguard even her work area for a future request. Sources said the job of NSE would likewise be explored to discover the reason why Ramkrishna was permitted to resign and leave respectfully and why no move was made against her by the NSE when its board was completely aware of the emails exchanged among her and the obscure individual.

When a Sebi official quizzed Ramkrishna whether consultation with the ‘Baba’ violated the principle of governance when she could have sought guidance from NSE’s board on organizational matters, she replied: “I would like to state that all discussions and guidance that are sought from the board and or other available experts is always done. As an MD and CEO, before I am able to come to a perspective of my view only, the guidance is sought. It is only to enable me in my role to have a primary view. As we know, senior leaders often seek informal counsel from coaches, mentors or other seniors in this industry which are all purely informal in nature.

“In a similar strain, I felt that this guidance would help me perform my role better. Being spiritual in nature there would never be a question of any confidentiality or integrity issues being compromised for the organization. There would be no question of any personal gain because of the information shared. Hence I felt that this would help me perform in the best interest.”

Sebi has penalised the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Ramkrishna and her predecessor Ravi Narain for administration slips in employing its head working official (COO) Anand Subramanian.

Ramkrishna has been coordinated to pay Rs 2 crore, while NSE, Narain and Subramanian need to pay Rs 2 crore each within 45 days.

Further, NSE has been banned from sending off any new item for quite some time.

Ramkrishna and Subramanian have additionally been limited from a partner with any market foundation organization or Sebi-enrolled intermediary in any way for a time of three years and Narain for two years.

NSE has likewise been coordinated to relinquish the overabundance leave encashment of Rs 1.54 crore and the conceded reward of Rs 2.83 crore of Ramkrishna.