Investigations had found that Subramaniam appointment was influenced by a ‘yogi’ living in the Himalayas
Commuters drive past the National Stock Exchange building in Mumbai. AFP
Anand Subramanian, the former group operating officer of the National Stock Exchange {NSE}, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation {CBI} on Thursday night in the co-location scam.
Prior to his arrest, CBI officials had questioned Subramanian for days in Chennai.
Here’s a look at who Anand Subramanian is and his role in this imbroglio.
Subramanian was the Chief Strategic Advisor from 1 April, 2013 and was subsequently re-designated as the Group Operating Officer (GOO) and advisor to Chitra Ramkrishna during her tenure as the MD and CEO from 1 April, 2015 to 21 October, 2016.
He left the NSE in 2016 after allegations of irregularities surfaced.
Investigations into Subramanian began after Securities and Exchange Board of India {SEBI} had received several complaints between December 2015 to November 2016 alleging governance issues in the appointment of Subramanian.
According to the complaints, Subramanian was hired at such a senior position without having any proper experience in the finance sector and was withdrawing a salary of more than Rs 4 crore per annum which was much higher than most of the seniors at NSE.
He was at times given two appraisals in a financial year. Not only that, his wife, Sunitha Anand, who worked at the Chennai office of NSE and was a ‘good friend’ of Ramkrishna, was also drawing a hefty salary that points towards favouritism.
Business Today reports that before joining NSE, Subramanian used to work with Balmer and Lawrie in middle-level management with zero exposure to capital markets.
According to investigations, Subramanian’s appointment by Chitra Ramkrishna was influenced by a ‘yogi‘ living in the Himalayas.
A SEBI order said she was influenced by the “yogi” in the appointment of Anand Subramanian as NSE’s group operating officer and advisor to the managing director.
In its 190-page order, SEBI added she leaked key business secrets pertaining to day-to-day operations.
A CNBCTV-18 report stated that Consultancy firm EY had pointed out Anand Subramanian as the person behind the e-mail id — [email protected] — with whom Ramkrishna had shared confidential information. The report further outlines several instances that illustrate that Subramanian, could very well be the yogi in question.
NSE insiders, as per the report, say both she and Subramanian were believers in astrology and orthodox rituals, and that he had a strong hold over her.
He reportedly was rude with senior colleagues and wasn’t reprimanded for his behaviour.
Furthermore, Chitra had certain administrative rules altered so that Subramanian could enjoy perks (first class air travel, accommodation on business trips) that he was otherwise not eligible for.
A perusal of the mails shows that Subramanian is a clear beneficiary of the yogi’s directions, in terms of salary increments, perquisites, and power. The theory is that Subramaniam would put forward proposals to Ramkrishna, which she would consult the yogi on, and the yogi in turn would approve.
However, the report states that Ramkrishna, herself, has stated out rightly that Subramaniam isn’t the yogi in question and the language in the mails also substantiate this claim.
While the mystery of the ‘yogi’ still remains, what we do know is that Subramaniam has been arrested and as per an IANS report will be produced before the concerned court where the federal probe agency will seek his custodial remand.
With inputs from agencies
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