Hyderabad: A metropolitan sessions court in Hyderabad on Monday suspended the sentences of Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju and nine others in the multi-crore accounting fraud and granted them bail.
Raju and his brother was granted bail the by the local court on a personal bond amount of Rs. 1 lakh each. Other accused were granted bail with bonds of Rs 50,000 each.
Relief for Raju and his fellow accused came after they filed an appeal seeking suspension of their sentence and fines imposed on them in the multi-crore rupee Satyam corporate fraud case.
They had been taken into custody barely a month ago after the conviction in the trial court. M Laxman, special judge for economic offences, said the execution of “substantive and default” sentence is suspended for Raju and his brother and then managing director of Satyam, B Rama Raju, on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each and two sureties of the like sum.
They shall also pay one tenth of fine amount within four weeks from the date of release on bail before the primary court (trial court), failing which they must undergo default sentence,” the judge said in the order.
Raju, the kingpin of the scam, and the other convicts, are currently lodged in Hyderabad's Cherlapally Central Prison.
On April 9, the ACMM court, which tried the Satyam corporate fraud case probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sentenced Mr 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 Mr Raju and his brother Rama Raju while others were fined Rs 25 lakh each.
However, the counsel of Mr Raju and others had on Thursday submitted before the court that their clients had already served a "substantial part" of their imprisonment by spending 35 months in jail and requested for suspension of their sentences.
They further contended that the fines imposed on them were "exorbitant" and that they have no source of income as all their bank accounts have been frozen by CBI and their properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate.
