Satyam scam: Raju appears before local court

B Ramalinga Raju, the founder of Satyam computers and main accused in the Satyam accounting fraud case, appeared before a local court for the second time on Thursday after being granted bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Raju, who looked fragile and was accompanied by his doctor, appeared before the XXI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court which is trying the case as per High Court's direction.

After being in the court for a few minutes, he took permission from the magistrate BVLN Chakravarti and left the court hall.

Speaking to mediapersons outside the court hall, Raju's counsel Bharat Kumar said as long as the magistrate grants Raju permission to leave the court hall after marking his appearance, they will not approach the High court seeking exemption to appear personally.

To a query, he said Raju's health was improving gradually. Arguments on hearing of charges against 10 accused in the multi-crore Satyam Computers scam was posted for Friday.

Raju had been avoiding appearance in the court since September last year citing health reasons.

The former Satyam chairman, who was arrested on January 9 last year, was granted bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court last week.