Regulator gives Raju 24 hours for Satyam probe hearing

HYDERABAD - Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Friday granted 24 hours to B. Ramalinga Raju, the disgraced former chairman of Satyam Computer Services, to appear before it for a hearing into the Rs.70-billion (Rs.7,000-crore) fraud he admitted the company has committed.

‘The regulator has granted my client 24 hours for deposing before its investigative team on our request,’ Raju’s lawyer S. Bharat Kumar told IANS here. ‘My client has been directed to appear for the hearing at Satyam corporate office at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.’

The lawyer, who appeared before a SEBI team at the Satyam office Friday evening, sought one more day for his client’s deposition as he was unwell and the time given for deposition Friday was too short.

‘I requested the regulator in writing for a one-day extension, as the summons were served today (Friday) at 2:30 p.m. for the hearing at 4:00 p.m. As the summons were given at a short notice, it was difficult for my client to rush to the hearing as he has also not been keeping well,’ Kumar said.

In the absence of Raju and his family at the family residence in the upmarket Jubilee Hills, the summons were handed over to the security officer on behalf of the regulator.

‘My client is very much in Hyderabad. He is safe but has not been keeping well. I have briefed him about my meeting with the SEBI team,’ Kumar added.

Meanwhile, a three-member SEBI team, headed by its southern regional manager A. Sunil Kumar, continued probing into Satyam’s books and documents since Thursday evening at its corporate and other offices in the twin cities, while another team looked into the records of its external auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).