What does the arrest of Anand Subramanian, former NSE COO, now mean?

On 25th February, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Anand Subramanian in connection with the NSE scam. One of the key issues in the entire algo scam has been the appointment of Anand Subramanian to a senior position when he had zero credentials for the job. Also in question is his dubious role in all that happened during the NSE algo scam. He was also responsible for putting the system where favours doled to certain traders.

The role of Anand Subramanian had come into question in the NSE algo scam long back. He had brought in through a route which was not officially approved nor was the process properly documented. He was designated as chief strategic advisor in April 2013, a position for which he had neither the competence, nor the expertise, nor the qualifications. There is already look out circulars against Anand Subramanian, Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain.

Chitra Ramakrishna’s role is a lot more serious. She had allegedly shared highly classified and confidential information regarding NSE’s financial projections, business plans and board agenda with an anonymous spiritual guru tucked away in the Himalayas. There is not much clarity on the identity of the spiritual guru, although it does seem more like a smokescreen to obfuscate the real issue of the culpability of key people in the algo scam.

Of course to be fair, Anand Subramanian may not be the only person culpable in this algo saga. Many people played dubious roles. Chitra and Anand had offered freebies to a handful of brokers for questionable quid pro quo considerations. Another controversial role is that of the noted economist and market specialist Ajay Shah. He appears to have gotten away lightly despite sharing confidential NSE data with a third party, connected to his wife.