Government to support Tech Mahindra on US class action suits

Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid yesterday said that the government would support Mahindra Satyam resolve class action suits against the company in the US.

"We discussed it and tried to elicit information on other class action suits which have been settled out of court... We will support them, in whatever help they want," Khurshid told reporters following his meeting with members of the company's board.

He said the company could take recourse to out-of-court settlements but that was for the Mahindra Satyam board to sort out.

Meanwhile Satyam board chairman Kiran Karnik and Mahindra Satyam executive vice chairman Vineet Nayyar met the minister earlier in the day.

Tech Mahindra, the rebranded version of the scam-hit Satyam Computer Services, with its acquisition of the hyderabad-based IT firm, has inherited several class actions suits in the US filed originally against Satyam. These could end up as a huge liability for the company's bottom line severely denting it to the tune of crores of rupees.

Khurshid also expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Mahindra Satyam board.