The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has found the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) lacking in giving a correct picture about the health condition of former Satyam Computers chairman B. Ramalinga Raju who continues to abstain from court proceedings of the company.
A special court here which perused a letter received from NIMS where Mr. Raju is undergoing treatment for Hepatitis-C infection on Thursday asked the CBI to explore alternatives to commence the trial in the Satyam Computers fraud since the hospital had stated he could not be shifted from hospital for another four to six weeks. The court directed the CBI to explain on March 18 the legal position as to how the agency wished to go ahead with prosecution under the circumstances.
NIMS authorities informed the court that Mr. Raju required a further four to six weeks to recover from the side effects of treatment. It was not advisable to take him outside the hospital as he ran a high risk of contacting severe infection due to “much below normal white blood corpuscle count.”
The prosecution, however, challenged the correctness of the letter stating that the hospital had recommended six to eight weeks of in-patient treatment for Mr. Raju when he was admitted early December. After three-and-a-half months, an extension of stay was sought with the sole aim to delay the trial.
CBI counsel Balla Ravindranath argued that the health condition of Mr. Raju was not bad as not to shift him to court.
Two charge-sheets
The court which is set to examine all the accused in the case for allegations mentioned against them in two separate charge-sheets also posted for March 18 the petition of Mahindra Satyam (new company) management to unlock record rooms that were sealed by the CBI.
