Raju's bail plea rejected

The fourth metropolitan sessions judge on Wednesday rejected the bail petitions of Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former managing director B Rama Raju and former chief financial officer Srinivas Vadlamani.

The defence counsel had argued yesterday that no money was diverted from Satyam and its founder resorted to inflating the balance sheet to keep the show going.

The public prosecutor, opposing the bail plea, questioned the need for the accused to hide the company affairs, including infusing funds and taking loans, from the directors of the company. “They inflated the accounts to protect their positions and to get better dividends for their shares,” he said.

The arguments for the bail of Rama Raju were heard on May 11. Supreme court lawyer RK Handoo, who appeared on behalf of Rama Raju, argued that his client had no role in the financial fraud at the company. He was managing director just for namesake, the lawyer had said.

Meanwhile, the judicial custody of the eight accused in the case has been extended till May 27. They were produced before the XIV additional chief metropolitan magistrate in the morning as the custody ended today.

Apart from Raju brothers and Vadlamani, the other accused include Price Waterhouse auditors S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, Satyam vice-president G Ramakrishna, senior finance manager D Venkatapathi Raju and assistant finance manager C Srisailam. B Suryanarayana Raju, Raju’s brother who is out on an anticipatory bail, was also produced in the court.