Mr T.S. Vijayan, Chairman LIC, said on Thursday that Mr Naresh Chopra, Secretary (Investments) at LIC who was arrested by CBI, did not have the power to make investment decisions. These decisions are taken at a higher level, he said.

An internal enquiry will be conducted, he told a news channel.

Mr Chopra has been accused of providing insider information on dealings of investment matters of LIC related to Adani, J P Hydro, JSW Power and Pantaloons. He is alleged to have received a bribe from Mr Rajesh Sharma, CEO of Money Matters to provide this information.

Contrary view

According to an ex-LIC official, it is possible that Mr Chopra was able to access information regarding the investment decisions made by the insurance giant.

“Even if the person in question was not big enough to make investment decisions, it is possible that the individual had access to information detailing the timing of LIC’s investment in these companies, which could have been used by market players,” said the ex-LIC official.

LIC has separate divisions for research, monitoring and for the actual investments under the Investment Department. However, there is no strict Chinese wall between these departments, according to people familiar with the functioning of the department.

According to a senior LIC official, investments decisions are normally made at Executive Director and Managing Director level. He said that it is difficult for a person at the Secretary level to know which particular stock LIC plans to invest in. However, the person may have been able to ascertain the recommendations made by the investment committee on stocks, the official said.

Source : The Hindu Business Line