Court turns down bail plea of Raju, two others

A local court on Saturday dismissed the bail petition of Satyam Computer's founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former Managing Director Rama Raju, and former Chief Finance Officer of the company Vadlamani Srinivas.

A local court on Saturday dismissed the bail petition of Satyam Computer's founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former Managing Director Rama Raju, and former Chief Finance Officer of the company Vadlamani Srinivas.

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The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate rejected their bail application in the Rs 7,800-crore Satyam fraud case on the ground that since different central agencies were probing the case, it was not proper to release them on bail. The trio, along with five other accused, are at present in judicial remand in connection with the scam.

Agreeing with the investigating agency CBI that the accused may tamper or destroy the evidence if they were released on bail, the judge said, "Apprehensions of CBI cannot be ruled out."

The judge referred to a verdict of the Supreme Court in the case of Kalyan Chandra Sarkar vs Rajesh Rajan alias Pappu Yadav in 2004, wherein the apex court had held that the mere fact that the accused had undergone a certain period of incarceration would not entitle him to be released on bail. Justice N Victor Immanuel observed that the apex court's judgement was very much applicable in the present case as well.