The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday declined to admit appeals filed by Satyam Computer founder B. Ramalinga Raju and others against their conviction in the multi-crore accounting fraud at the erstwhile IT firm, observing it is not maintainable before it and told them to move sessions court.
Raju, the scam kingpin, and nine others had filed appeals in the HC, praying it to set aside of a trial court order convicting them in the Rs. 7000 crore scandal that came to light in 2009.
Justice T Sunil Chowdary said the “appeals lie only before a court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge (MSJ)” and directed the petitioners to approach it as the same are not maintainable before the High Court.
“The judgement was passed by 21st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (the trial court). Therefore, against the judgement passed by such a court on conviction, the appeal lies only before a sessions court as per CrPC,” the Judge noted.
The MSJ Court (session’s court) had on April 20 refused to accept appeal petitions filed by Raju and nine others (challenging the ACCM court verdict) and returned them as not maintainable before it on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction to hear them and asked the 10 convicts to move the High Court.
Accordingly, they moved the HC, where its Registry on Tuesday raised objection over maintainability of these appeals because they were challenging the judgement of a Magistrate (ACMM) court. The matter was subsequently placed before Justice Chowdary.
The appeals were earlier filed by Raju and others in the MSJ Court, requesting it to quash the trial court’s verdict and also for seeking bail.
On April 9, the ACMM Court, which tried the corporate fraud case probed by CBI, sentenced Raju and others, including his brother Rama Raju, to seven years rigorous imprisonment for criminal conspiracy and cheating, among other offences. It had also imposed Rs 5.5 crore fine on Raju and his brother Rama Raju.
All the convicts are currently lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison in Hyderabad.
All you need to know about the Satyam case:
>What
The scandal broke in 2009 when founder-chairman of Satyam Computers Ramalinga Raju confessed that the company’s accounts were tampered with. He disclosed a Rs.7,000-crore accounting fraud in the balance sheets.
>Who
The 10 people found guilty in the case are: B. Ramalinga Raju; his brother and Satyam's former managing Director B. Rama Raju; former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas; former PwC auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T Srinivas; Raju's another brother B Suryanarayana Raju; former employees G. Ramakrishna, D. Venkatpathi Raju and Ch Srisailam; and Satyam's former internal chief auditor V.S. Prabhakar Gupta.
When: The timeline:
- Ramalinga Raju dropped a letter-bomb on unsuspecting investors, employees and the government confessing to a Rs.7,136-crore fraud committed by him and his close circle of relatives and employees at the company. Ramalinga Raju resigns. >read more
- Citibank freezes Satyam's 30 accounts.
- Ramalinga Raju and his younger brother B. Rama Raju arrested. Central govt disbands Satyam’s board, to appoint its own 10 directors. >read more
- Satyam removed from Sensex, Nifty >read more
- Satyam’s former CFO Srinivas Vadlamani arrested. >read more
- Government appoints Deepak Parekh, Kiran Karnik and C. Achuthan to Satyam board. >read more
- CBI takes over investigation, goes on to file three chargesheets >read more
- Gets SEBI nod for bidding process to select investor >read more
- Tech Mahindra makes open offer to Satyam shareholders at Rs. 58/share, offer to close June 9 >read more
- Mahindra unveils new brand identity for Satyam, Mahindra Satyam. >read more
- Raju says charges levelled by CBI are false >read more
- Supreme Court grants bail to Raju since CBI failed to file chargesheet on time. >read more
- Enforcement Directorate files a criminal complaint against 47 persons and 166 corporate entities headed by Ramalinga Raju. >read more
- Ramalinga Raju and three others given six months jail term by SFIO >read more
- Judge postpones verdict citing voluminous documents >read more
- Special court defers verdict till April 9 >read more
- All 10 accused found guilty >read more
>Riding a tiger without knowing to get off: Raju
In his resignation letter to the board of directors of the company, Mr. Raju rued: “I am now prepared to subject myself to the laws of land and face consequences thereof.”
>The Satyam scam: separating truth from lies
Why did the then fourth largest IT company choose to take the criminal route of falsifying accounts and indulging in fraud?
>Investigating the Satyam scam
The arrest might be the start of an effective legal process to bring to justice the self-confessed perpetrator of the biggest corporate fraud in Indian history.
>Pursuing Satyam
The sheer audacity of what they did is evident from investigations done by Sebi which stumbled upon fake invoices and bank statements dating back by many years.
>CBI reveals modus operandi of Satyam fraud
The IT company had generated false invoices to show inflated sales.
>Satyam case: Sebi bans Raju, others for 14 years
Sebi also asks them to return Rs.1,849 crore worth of unlawful gains with interest.
