The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has dismissed charges against the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Chitra Ramkrishna, and several other top executives tied to the controversial co-location case. The decision comes after SEBI determined there was insufficient evidence to support allegations of misconduct and collusion.
SEBI’s ruling, passed by Whole Time Member Kamlesh C Varshney, emphasized that no new material evidence had surfaced beyond a report from 2023 by the Indian School of Business (ISB). According to the order, the evidence fell short of meeting the legal threshold of ‘preponderance of probability’ needed to prove any wrongdoing between NSE officials and OPG Securities, the firm at the heart of the controversy.
This ruling follows a previous decision by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in 2023, which overturned SEBI’s 2019 directive that ordered NSE to refund ₹625 crore over alleged gains from preferential access provided to certain stockbrokers. The investigation into the co-location facility, which allowed brokers to place their servers close to NSE’s data centers for faster access, began in 2015 after whistleblowers raised concerns about market manipulation.
Despite acknowledging that NSE lacked a clear policy for its co-location services and failed to properly monitor secondary server access, SEBI found these issues insufficient to prove any collusion between NSE officials and OPG Securities.
Though the investigation saw traders like OPG face disciplinary actions, SEBI ultimately concluded that the case against Ramkrishna, former Vice Chairman Ravi Narain, and other NSE executives did not hold up under scrutiny. Both Ramkrishna and Subramanian denied any involvement in the alleged wrongdoing, citing the absence of concrete evidence.
SEBI’s decision, while clearing the NSE executives, continues to impose penalties on OPG Securities. In a separate order, the firm was directed to disgorge ₹85 crore, face a six-month trading ban, and continue its five-year debarment from the market.
