No bail for Ramalinga Raju, custody extended till Jan 19

Hyderabad, Jan 16: Hyderabad court denied SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), the market regulator access to interrogate Satyam Computers former chief B Ramalinga Raju and two others and also extended his judicial custody till Jan 19.

lawyer Court will hear Raju's police custody case on Jan 17. On Friday, Jan 16 the court was hearing bail petition filed by Raju, his brother Rama Raju and former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas in the 7,000-crore Satyam scam. Sources said that SEBI filed the petition before a Magistrate Court seeking permission to interrogate Raju and two others while they are in judicial custody.

Raju's lawyer Kumar had earlier sought a day's time to file a counter petition, following which the court posted the matter for hearing on Friday, Jan 16. However, it has now been posted for hearing on Jan 19.

Raju's lawyer claimed that as Raju does not have access to any records or document in jail, he would need legal consultation before the interrogation, which is not possible in custody. He argued that SEBI officials should wait for Raju to come on bail to continue their probe.

However the market regulator's lawyer had on Wednesday, Jan 14 said that SEBI's porbe in Satyam fraud is being delayed as Raju was in judicial custody. There are also reports that Andhra government had take action against Raju in a hurry and arrested him to avoid SEBI's probe into the case.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)