Give time frame on Satyam probe, HC tells CBI

The Andhra Pradesh High Court today asked the CBI to give a time frame regarding the investigation into the Satyam case.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by one Achutan of Kerala-based Stock Investors Hub, an investor community, seeking handing over the Satyam case to the CBI and also defining the time frame. The petition was filed on February 12 and the case was first taken up on February 16 but the court asked the CBI to update on the status of investigation today.

The CBI has sought a week's time till February 26 to file an affidavit giving the details.

The CBI counsel also told the court that they had asked the state government to provide infrastructure like a guest house, an office, six laptops and a platoon of armed forces among others. The CBI would formally begin the investigations in a day after these have been provided.

To this, the public prosecutor said the government would shortly give an undertaking providing all the required infrastructure.

The state CID police has so far seized 200 trunk loads of documents relating to Satyam. The CBI also asked the state to give space to keep these documents once they were given to the CBI.

The CBI counsel said a special investigation team comprising 15-20 officers drawn from the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Income Tax and the CBI would investigate into the matter.