Supreme Court grants bail to Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju
04 Nov 2011
Satyam Computer Services founder B. Ramalinga Raju was granted bail along with his brother B. Rama Raju and former chief financial officer, Vadlamani Srinivas, by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Raju has been accused of masterminding a Rs14,000-crore scam involving his company – now part of the Mahindra & Mahindra group – the biggest corporate fraud in India. The apex court granted bail on condition that they surrender their passports to the trial court.
Five others, also accused of being involved in the scam, had been granted bail by the court last month. With the three key accused getting bail, all 10 accused are now out of jail.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a probe into the scam, had opposed the granting of bail, claiming that the former Satyam chairman would tamper with evidence and try to delay the trial.
''Ramalinga Raju is highly influential and if he is released on bail, there is every possibility, almost to a point of certainty, that he would impede and interfere with the process of trial and make every effort to tamper with evidence and delay the trial,'' the CBI said while responding to the bail pleas.
''Ramalinga Raju sold off / pledged his shares at highly inflated rates at opportune times during the fraud period leading to wrongful gain for himself and his family members, while on the other hand, retail investors, mutual fund entities and institutional investors, both Indian and foreign, have suffered wrongful losses to the tune of several thousand crore of rupees. He further acquired huge immovable assets both in his name and in the name of his family members.''
The agency also feared that Ramalinga and his brother would try to delay the trial by now wanting to cross-examine 'given-up' witnesses of the prosecution, despite having given an undertaking that they would not do so. Two of the 10 accused in the case of not given similar undertakings, it added.
