Court convicts Satyam Raju's kin in tax evasion case

Judge sentenced one year and six months of imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 each

A local court on Thursday convicted director of 19 companies, whose promoters include erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Limited former chairman B Ramalinga Raju's wife Nandini Raju and sons Teja Raju and Rama Raju, for allegedly evading income tax.

The special judge for economic offenses court, M Laxman, sentenced the accused male and female directors for one year and six months of simple imprisonment respectively, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

The 19 companies, allegedly floated by Raju's family members and relatives, had deliberately evaded the income tax, though some had shown amounts of between Rs 93 lakh and Rs 2 crore as pending tax on their books, argued public prosecutor for the income-tax department, Ramakrishna Reddy.

Based on a plea of the accused, the special judge, however, suspended the sentence for one month, so as to enable the convicted to approach a higher court.