Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered former Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and five others to surrender by November 8 in connection with the multi-crore financial scam case.

Overruling a decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court that had granted bail to him in the case, the apex court ordered a court handling the Satyam case to complete its trial by July 31, 2011.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had questioned Raju for around three hours on October 5 as part of its probe into the case.

Raju, the founder of Satyam was arrested in January 2009 for one of India’s biggest corporate scams, worth more than 7000 crore.

The CBI had opposed his bail on the grounds that he could try to influence witnesses.

Raju, the prime accused in the Rs 14,000-crore scam, had earlier evaded interrogation under the pretext of being medically unfit.

The apex court had earlier on October 1 issued notice to Raju on a petition by the CBI seeking cancellation of his bail granted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.Raju was granted bail by the Andhra High Court in August.The CBI believes that Raju may try to tamper with evidence against him and influence witnesses.He has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 120B for criminal conspiracy, under Section 409 for breach of trust, under Section 420 for cheating, and under Section 468 and Section 471 for forgery.Raju, Satyam founder and former Chairman, resigned from the company after confessing to country’s biggest financial fraud of Rs 14,000 crore and disclosing massive financial irregularities in January 2009. Andhra Pradesh Police arrested Raju and his brother Rama Raju on January 9, 2010. Nine other accused, including top company officials and auditors, were also arrested in the case. (ANI)