Satyam scam: court rejects bail pleas of Raju, 7 others

HYDERABAD, INDIA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of former chairman of Satyam Computers B. Ramalinga Raju and seven other accused in India's biggest corporate fraud case.

Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu, who had reserved orders on August 27, rejected all the bail petitions.

B. Ramalinga Raju, his brother and managing director of the company Rama Raju, chief financial officer Srinivas Vadlamani, Satyam's former internal chief auditor V.S. Prabhakar Gupta, former PwC auditor S. Gopalakrishnan and company employees Ch. Srisailam, G. Ramakrishna and B. Venkatapati Raju had moved the high court after their petitions were dismissed by the trial court on August 4.

All the eight accused in the multi-crore scam are currently lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Jail in Hyderabad. Two others accused in the case were earlier granted bail.

Raju and seven others sought the bail on the ground that the trial was not completed before July 31 as stipulated by the Supreme Court. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), however, opposed the bail pleas saying if the accused were released on bail there was every possibility that they might try to influence witnesses.

The CBI also submitted that it has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking extension of time to complete the trial in the case.

While cancelling the bail granted by the high court to Raju and others, the apex court in October last year had ruled that that they were free to approach the trial court for bail if the trial was not completed before July 31.

Raju had shocked corporate India in January 2009 by confessing to an accounting scam worth over Rs.7,000 crore.

Police had booked 10 people, including Raju. Another brother B. Suryanarayana Raju, who is neither a director nor an employee of the IT firm, had secured anticipatory bail. PwC auditor Talluri Srinivas had also been released on bail by the Supreme Court.