New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday questioned former managing director of Satyam Computers B. Rama Raju and four others, accused of a multi-crore-rupee fraud, as to why their bail should not be cancelled.
The court issued notices to them on a petition of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which sought cancellation of their bail.
Along with B. Rama Raju, the notice was issued to Satyam’s former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas, vice-president for finance Ramakrishna, Srisailam and Venkatapathi Raju.
All the five were granted bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court July 20.
B. Rama Raju is brother of B. Ramalinga Raju, the founder chairman of the Satyam Computers Services Limited.
An apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma issued the notices after Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the court that with their release on bail there was a fear of 230 witnesses being won over and the trial getting derailed.
He said that the witnesses were employed in Satyam Computers by these people.
The court has given two weeks’ time to the contending parties to file their replies and rejoinders in the case.
The solicitor general said that all the accused were engaged in fudging accounts and records of the Satyam Computers.
The court was told that they manipulated bank statements, fixed deposit receipts, the liquidity status of the company and other documents.
Subramanium said that the accused through such manipulations siphoned off public money.
The court was told that the accused bought real estate worth Rs.4,000 crore all over Andhra Pradesh.
He said that total scam was to the tune of Rs.14,000 crore.
The court was told that trial in the case would be over in six months as four special public prosecutors were pursuing the case and the court was hearing the matter on a day-to-day basis.
Assailing the high court grant of bail to Rama Raju and four others, Subramanium told the apex court that the high court while granting bail observed that since all the records and documents were in the possession of the investigating agency, there was no possibility of their being tampered with by the accused.
The high court held that since the Satyam management has changed, employees who were witnesses in the case could not be accessed or influenced by the accused, Subramanium told the apex court.
The Supreme Court was told that the government had already issued letter rogatory (LR) to courts in Britain, the US and Mauritius where the accused had stashed away the scam money.
An LR is a request by an Indian court to a foreign court for judicial assistance. The LR is routed through diplomatic channels.
