Former Satyam chief Raju gets bail

HYDERABAD - Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday granted bail to B. Ramalinga Raju, the prime accused in the multi-crore Satyam fraud case.

Justice Raja Elango, who had reserved the orders Monday after hearing the arguments from Raju’s counsel and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), pronounced the same Wednesday.

Raju’s lawyer Bharat Kumar said the court had granted conditional bail, asking Raju to make himself available to CBI for any investigations.

The 56-year-old Raju has been in jail since January last year when he admitted to a Rs.7,800 crore accounting fraud in Satyam Computer Services Limited, which he had founded.

Raju has been undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C in the government-run Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here for the last nine months.

With Raju getting the bail, all 10 accused in the case are now out of jail.

The court asked Raju not to leave the country and to cooperate with the investigations and trial.

“The court has directed Mr. Raju to appear before the investigating agency after his discharge from the hospital,” Bharat Kumar told reporters.

The disgraced former chairman of Satyam has also been asked to deposit two sureties of Rs.20 lakh each.

It was immediately not clear on what grounds the court granted Raju bail but during the hearing Monday, the judge had made it clear that the accused would not get bail on health grounds.

Long period of incarceration, delay in trial and parity with other accused were the other grounds on which Raju’s lawyers had sought the bail.

Terming Raju an “economic terrorist”, the CBI had opposed the bail saying the accused might destroy evidence, especially with regard to the money he diverted to other countries.

Additional Solicitor General H.P. Rawal had blamed Raju for delaying the trial by avoiding the trial court on the pretext of his illness. He had also raised doubts about the report submitted by NIMS doctors about his health condition.

The prosecution had also told the court that the trial could be completed in six months but the judge did not agree with him.

Raju had shocked the corporate India in January last year admitting to a Rs.7,800 crore accounting fraud in the IT major.

The CBI, however, told the court in November last year that the scam is of over Rs.14,000 crore.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court July 20 had granted bail to five accused including Raju’s brother and former managing director of Satyam, B. Rama Raju and former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas.

The courts had earlier granted bail to three accused while Raju’s another brother B. Surayanarayana Raju had obtained anticipatory bail last year.

All the accused are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and falsification of accounts.