Ramalinga Raju leaves hospital, faces further grilling

B Ramalinga Raju the prime accused in Satyam scam has been discharged from Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) hospital as of Saturday morning. The development came after the Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to Raju asking why his bail should not be cancelled.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to issue a notice today to Raju, the founder of the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, for questioning on fund diversion in what is considered India's biggest corporate scam of all time.

Raju has been under treatment for Hepatitis C and heart ailments and has reportedly paid about Rs8 lakh for his treatment. His discharge comes a little over a year after he made a VIP suite in the hospital his home on the plea that he was too sick to stay in jail.

Reports say that between 8.30 and 9.30 am, with hospital corridors virtually empty on account of it being a public holiday, Raju made a backdoor exit, avoiding a waiting media.

He is still expected to be under treatment at home till another 12 weeks, according to his lawyer Bharat Kumar. ''Raju was discharged from NIMS. Doctors have discharged him since his medical condition got improved,'' Kumar told reporters in Hyderabad.

Arrested in January 2009, Ramalinga Raju got admitted to NIMS in August the same year for treatment. He remained in hospital even after the Andhra Pradesh high court granted him bail in August this year.