India Inc. says Satyam verdict will act as deterrent

Welcoming the special CBI court's order on the Satyam case, India Inc on Thursday said it would act as a deterrent for misdirected persons in the corporate sector.

"CII believes that the verdict will surely act as a deterrent to such malafide intentions and scams in the future," the Confederation of Indian Industry said in a statement.

"For cases of financial malfeasance like that in Satyam are concerned, it is CII's view that the certainty of the punishment is as important as the swiftness of justice and from that point of view we appreciate the verdict," it added.

"The verdict will also help establish trust of stakeholders on the non-tolerance against frauds and the overall Indian judicial framework, not only in India but across the globe," CII said.

Meanwhile, auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said it was disappointed at the special CBI court's order, holding two of its former partners guilty in the Satyam case.

S. Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, two former partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers, were among the 10 accused found guilty by the special CBI court in India's biggest corporate fraud case.

"As we have said many times, there has never been any evidence presented that either of our former partners S. Gopalakrishnan or Srinivas Talluri were involved in or were aware of the management-led fraud at Satyam," said a statement from PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Bengaluru.