'NSE performs public duty': Delhi HC rejects Chitra Ramkrishna's plea in co-location scam case

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed former managing director of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna's challenge to a trial court order taking cognizance of offences under the anti-corruption law in the co-location scam case against her. A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja held that the NSE performed a "public duty" and the petitioner, being its CEO and managing director, "equally performed a function and duty in which the public at large is invested". The bench also upheld the sanction given by the Board of Directors of the NSE to prosecute Ramkrishna who is an accused in the co-location scam case, stating that the order was conditional to the limited extent of determination of issues pertaining to the applicability of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act to her and it cannot be set aside only on this ground. Ramkrishna contended that the definition of "public servant" under the PC Act was extremely vague and, therefore, was liable to be struck down. She also claimed that the provision cannot be made applicable to private persons employed with a private limited company. The petition was opposed by the Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the Centre. In its 54-page judgement, the court stated that it did not find the definition of "public servant" under the PC Act so vague and uncertain so as to render it unconstitutional. The court said that the NSE is a recognised stock exchange, which is not an ordinary business venture but performs vital economic functions in the public interest, including the protection of investors, and that its shareholding is majorly in the hands of government companies. It added that since the NSE acts through its officers, the petitioner cannot be wholly separated from the functions performed by the exchange. The court clarified that whether the petitioner can be said to be performing a public duty in the internal management of the NSE and how far she was in-charge of its day-to-day functioning and general policy decisions were matters of evidence, which cannot be determined at this stage. The chargesheet filed by the CBI can also not be quashed by determining "such mixed questions of facts and law", it added. "In view of the above, we do not find any merit in the present petition. The same, along with the pending application, is accordingly dismissed," the court ruled. The NSE co-location scam refers to the alleged abuse of the algorithm and the co-location facility by certain brokers in conspiracy with some unknown officials to make windfall profits between 2010 and 2014 when the petitioner was managing its affairs. Ramkrishna was appointed as joint MD in 2009 and remained in the position till March 31, 2013. She got elevated as MD and CEO on April 1, 2013. The CBI arrested Ramkrishna on March 6, 2022, in connection with the case registered in 2018. She was granted bail by the high court in September 2022. PTI ADS KVK KVK