The matters have come to a head with investors expressing the apprehension that people like Chitra will follow in the footsteps of Vijay Mallya who have fled the shores after defrauding the banks and financial institutions to the tune of thousands of crores to get a free hand to escape the long arms of the law.
There was a hue and cry from the investing community that Chitra should be arrested before a similar story of CBI issuing LOC after she escapes Indian shores emerges.
The investors pointed out that in many instances, the nodal investigating agencies of the government including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issue Lookout Circulars (LoC) well after the accused individuals succeed in reaching and taking shelter in foreign shores. The latest scam that highlighted the former National Stock Exchange (NSE) chief, Ravi Narain, comfortably perched in London for more than two years being served a Lookout Circular.
In addition, the current boss Chitra Ramkrishna had reportedly told the CBI that she was acting in accordance with guidance she received from her spiritual guru (reportedly Anand Subramaniam, however name not confirmed) on all official matters regarding the governance of the NSE. The CBI has issued its Lookout Notice against Chitra Ramkrishna too.
However, voices in the market are clamouring that the nodal agency that issues the Lookout Circulars has lost the faith of members of the public as in many instances; these notices are issued much after the accused person escapes the Indian shores. They also expressed the fear that Chitra too might escape Indian soil in due course of time and the CBI will continue to bolt the stables after the horses have fled.
The trio of Chitra, Ravi Narain and the yogi (purportedly Anand Subramaniam) came under the SEBI scanner after a whistleblower leaked to the regulator on how the NSE was being run by proxy control. Narain who is already on foreign soil had informed CBI that since 2009, all control and decisions were in the hands of Chitra and he continued as boss till 2013 on the insistence of the Board. However, he has failed to appear before the CBI Delhi office as promised earlier.
Our Sprouts’ Special Investigation Team (SIT) claims that this is a very dangerous trend for the Indian investing community.
