Andhra HC freezes Satyam bank accounts

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday restrained both Mahindra Satyam and the Income Tax Department from accessing the company’s bank accounts till March 31. The court posted the next hearing on the company petition against an I-T Department order to freeze its accounts for March 30.

Mahindra Satyam had challenged the Rs 616.53-crore tax claim by the I-T department in the high court earlier this week. It said the assessment of tax liability had been made on false information provided by for Satyam Computer Services chairman B Ramalinga Raju. The company was later taken over by the Mahindra Group. The company management had questioned both the freezing of its accounts and tax claim by the I-T department.

The total value of the frozen accounts is about Rs 1,300 crore. The division bench comprising Justice VVS Rao and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan issued the directions.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had rejected earlier petitions by Mahindra Satyam asking for reopening of the assessments for 2003-04 to 2008-09 to arrive at actual numbers based on the findings of the investigating agencies. The company had also requested the finance ministry to intervene in the matter.