NEW DELHI: Former National Stock Exchange (NSE) MD and CEO Chitra Ramakrishna who is an accused in the NSE co-location scam and who is being investigated for sharing confidential information about NSE with a 'yogi from the Himalayas' is likely to be arrested shortly by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal rejected her plea for anticipatory bail sought on flimsy grounds like that she was a person very strongly rooted in the society, that she had to take care of a daughter and her mother and thus many not abscond from the country. 

The judge noted that considering the facts of the case and the lapses in the past by all agencies, it has also been held that even economic offences would fall under the category of 'grave offence' thereby indicting Chitra as one of the key accused in the case.

In a comprehensive 22 page order rejecting the bail, the special court made very observations against the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), while also pulling up the agency CBI.

Reprimanding the agency the order says, "CBI is most lackadaisical, to say the least; as no action seems to have been taken against main beneficiaries of the present co-location scam, (the names of some of whom are mentioned in the RC / FIR of 2018 itself) and others for almost four full years, who seems to be enjoying merrily at the expense of common citizenry for the reasons best known."

While it observed that SEBI despite being a capital market watchdog has been too kind and gentle against the accused persons in the present FIR, it has also said that the other accused Sanjay Gupta dishonestly and fraudulently influenced the official of SEBI and paid bribes to them. 

CBI had registered a case against a brokerage firm, OPG Securities owned by Sanjay Gupta, unnamed NSE and Sebi officials for giving preferential access to a select few brokers in 2018. This was based on the Sebi investigation which started in 2016.

CBI has already arrested the purported 'yogi' NSE's former Group Operating Officer (GOO)  Anand Subramanian on February 26 days after SEBI gave its report in which Chitra cited emails corresponding with a 'Himalayan yogi' in the management of the exchange. Chitra can approach a higher court, but agency sources said that they are moving in to arrest her shortly and now she will only be able to apply for regular bail.