synopsis

In September last year, Chitra Ramkrishna was granted bail in the CBI case by the high court. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed her bail plea in the present case on grounds that she was the "mastermind" behind the conspiracy.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (February 9) granted bail to Chitra Ramkrishna in the money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) employees.

In his judgement, Justice Jasmeet Singh said, "The application is allowed. The applicant is granted bail." Earlier, the former NSE managing director was arrested by the CBI in the alleged NSE co-location scam, was arrested in the present case by the Enforcement Directorate on July 14 last year.

Also read: Delhi liquor scam case: ED arrests advertising professional Rajesh Joshi

In September last year, she was granted bail in the CBI case by the high court. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed her bail plea in the present case on grounds that she was the "mastermind" behind the conspiracy.

According to the ED, the phone tapping case pertains to a period from 2009 to 2017 when former NSE CEO Ravi Narain, Ramkrishna, Executive Vice-President Ravi Varanasi, and Head (Premises) Mahesh Haldipur and others conspired to cheat NSE and its employees and for the purpose, engaged iSEC Services Pvt Ltd for illegal interception of phone calls of employees of the NSE in the guise of doing periodic study of cyber vulnerabilities of the NSE.

Also read: Tripura election 2023: BJP President JP Nadda to release party manifesto today; check details

Seeking bail, Ramkrishna had argued that no scheduled offence was made out against her and the allegations also did not fall within the rigors of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Ramkrishna was appointed as Joint MD NSE in 2009 and remained in the position till March 31, 2013. She got elevated as MD and CEO on April 1, 2013. Her tenure at NSE ended in December 2016.