Satyam Ramalinga Raju's plea for sentence suspension verdict today

New Delhi: A local court would pronounce its order on Friday on appeals filed by Satyam Computers founder B Ramalinga Raju and nine others, seeking suspension of their sentences and the fines imposed on them in the multi-crore accounting fraud in the erstwhile IT firm.

M Laxman, special judge for Economic Offences court-cum- Metropolitan Sessions Judge (MSJ) court here, heard the arguments and counter arguments yesterday and posted the matter for orders today.

Raju, the kingpin of the scam, and nine other convicts, currently lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison, had filed the appeals in the MSJ court on Monday, challenging their conviction (sentences and fines imposed) by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court (ACMM) in the over Rs 7,000-crore scandal that came to light in 2009 and enlarging them on bail.

On April 9, the ACMM court, which tried the Satyam corporate fraud case probed by the CBI, sentenced Raju and others to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for criminal conspiracy and cheating, among other offences.
It had also imposed Rs 5.35 crore fine on Raju and his brother Rama Raju while others were fined Rs 25 lakh each.

E Uma Maheswar Rao, who argued for Raju, and other defence counsels submitted before the court today that their clients had already served a "substantial part" of their imprisonment by spending 35 months in jail and requested it for suspension of their sentences.

They further contended that the fines imposed on them were also "exorbitant" and now they have no source of income as all their bank accounts have been frozen by CBI and their properties have been attached by ED and they have no monetary means of paying the fine.

Rao submitted that the fine amount was "highly excessive" and claimed that if at all there is any victim of the "financial fraud", it is his client. "There were no real benefits for Raju and others who pooled their own resources and pumped money into the company and the proceeds had gone to charity," he claimed.

The defence counsels, while seeking suspension of sentences and for granting bail, cited a few Supreme Court rulings, including the one pertaining to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, wherein it had suspended her four-year sentence in the disproportionate assets case and granted her bail.

The counsels of Raju and others further submitted that their clients facilitated the trial and their conduct has been exceptional and there should not be any apprehensions that they may flee or tamper with evidence. "The case has voluminous records running into over 20,000 pages and it will take three years to dispose the appeals before this court," Rao said and sought for expeditious disposal of the appeals.

Opposing the defence arguments, CBI Special Public Prosecutor K Surender said the pleas for suspension of the sentence and the fine amount are virtually nothing but seeking suspension of the judgement of the trial (ACMM) court, which he said was permissible only under special circumstances. The appeals of Raju and others are not permissible as there were no special circumstances, he argued.

"The act of Raju and others in fabricating documents of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Ltd (SCSL) over several years has caused loss to the investors to the tune of several thousands of crores of rupees," he said, adding that they have means of paying the fine.