M A I N   N E W S

satyam multi-crore accounting fraud
SC grants bail to Raju, brother
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, November 4
The Supreme Court today granted bail to Satyam Computers’ founder Ramalinga Raju and his brother B Rama Raju, pointing out that they had already spent two years and eight months in jail and 226 witnesses had been examined during the ongoing trial in one of the biggest accounting frauds involving about Rs 14,000 crore.

A file photo of Ramalinga Raju. — AFP

A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra directed their release after securing a personal bond for Rs 2 lakh each and sureties for similar amounts.

The Bench, however, granted liberty to the CBI to come back to the SC seeking cancellation of the bail in case the brothers tried to abuse the relief granted to them, either by influencing the remaining witnesses or delaying the trial by any means.

The apex court also directed them to surrender their passports to the trial court and advised the trial Judge to expedite  the proceedings.

“We were able to achieve the object” for which the SC had, on October 26, 2010, cancelled the bail granted to them by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on August 20 that year, the Bench observed, pointing out that the trial proceeded on a fast pace during that period.

Besides the 226 prosecution witnesses, eight of the 15 investigating officers had been fully cross-examined. It also noted that the two had cooperated with the trial court and assured the SC of a similar behaviour in future.