Satyam trial to be over by July deadline: CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the multi-crore-rupee Satyam Computer accounting scam, says trial proceedings were in full pace and would be completed within the deadline.

The Supreme Court had fixed July 31 as the deadline for completing the trial, failing which, the accused, including founder B Ramalinga Raju, can approach the court to obtain bail.

“The apex court said they (accused) can approach the trial court for a bail. That is its order. However, it is not that they will get the bail,” CBI Deputy Inspector-General V V Lakshmi Narayana told Business Standard.

On April 7, 2009, CBI had filed a charge sheet on the Satyam fraud. The 76-page document was filed before a special court in Hyderabad under various sections, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), 471 (using forged document as genuine) and 477-A (falsification of accounts).

Satyam Computer had plunged into a crisis on January 7, 2009, when Raju admitted to committing major financial wrongdoings, including showing fictitious assets on the balance sheet.

The case was handed over to CBI on February 18, 2009, by the central government after it received a request for the same from the Andhra Pradesh government.

Last month, CBI said it had reduced the 3,067 documents supporting the charge sheet to just above 1,000 according to the directive of the apex court. It also reduced the number of witnesses in the case to 220, as against 690 mentioned in the charge sheet.

Our prosecution of evidence in the trial court in support of the charge sheets that we had filed is over. Now cross-examination of our witnesses by the defence is remaining. This will be followed by the magistrate questioning (if any) the accused and then the defence, and then the arguments,” Narayana said.