Raju lolls in hospital,5 others out on bail

The AP High Court on Tuesday granted bail to B. Rama Raju, former managing director of the Satyam Computers, and four other accused in the Rs 10,000-crore accounting scam.

Mr B. Rama Raju is the brother of B. Ramalinga Raju, the mastermind of the scam. The others who got bail were Srinivas Vadl-amani, former CFO of the company, and three top officials, G. Ramakrishna, Ch. Srisailam and D. Venkatpathy Raju. With this, only Ramalinga Raju, continues to be in jail in the biggest corporate scam of the country that broke out on January 7, 2009. However, he has been avoiding proceedings at the special court set up for the case citing health reasons.

The CBI had arrested Ramalinga Raju, founder of the Satyam Computers, and nine others last year for the accounting fraud which shook the corporate world.

Justice Raja Elango granted bail to the accused saying that there was no need for them to languish in prison since there was no prospect of the trial commencing in the near future. The judge also referred to the Supreme Court granting bail to Srinivas Talluri, another accused in the Satyam scam.

However, the solicitor-general, Mr Gopal Subramanium, objected to the bail petitions by contending that the accused were influential people and would try to tamper evidence and influence witnesses. Mr T. Niranjan Reddy, the special public prosecutor, also assured that the trial would be completed within six months.

However, the Judge expressed scepticism at the trial concluding within six months citing voluminous records and the need to examine more than 400 witnesses.