Satyam: Bail plea order reserved for April 25

The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on Wednesday reserved the order on the bail petitions of former Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju and ex-CFO Vadlamani Srinivas for April 25.

The court would also announce its decision on the lie-detector test for the Raju brothers and Vadlamani on the same day.

The CBI had filed an application on March 24 seeking court permission to subject the scientific test on the three to ascertain the facts in the case.

Opposing the bail pleas, Additional Legal Advisor to the CBI B Ravindranath informed the court that if the accused are released on bail, investigation may be affected.

The CBI alleged that the Raju brothers transferred Rs 194.6 crore (Rs 1.946 billion) to companies floated by them without being authorised by the company's board of directors to do so.

The CBI said there is evidence of benami share transactions by the accused in the names of trusted employees of the company, front companies and relatives. It wanted to examine some other witnesses in this regard.

Meanwhile, fresh bail petitions of Venkatpati Raju and Srisailam, both employees of Satyam, were filed today in the court of the IV Additional Metropolitan Sessions judge, and they are likely to come up for hearing on April 24. Earlier their bail pleas were rejected by XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on April 18.

Ramalinga Raju and seven others are in judicial remand till April 29. Two former auditors of Price Waterhouse -- S Gopalakrishnan and his deputy Talluri Srinivas -- are among the eight accused lodged in the Chanchalguda jail in Hyderabad.