Satyam case: SC grants bail to PwC auditor

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to PricewaterhouseCoopers auditor Srinivas Talluri, who was arrested in Satyam fraud case for allegedly conniving with its founder B Ramalinga Raju and other aides.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan  directed Talluri to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) and two sureties of like amount.

While granting bail to Talluri, the bench, also comprising Justices J M Panchal and B S Chauhan, directed him to make his appearance twice a month before the Central Bureau of Investigation and not to leave Hyderabad without informing the investigating agency.

The bench said that he has to make himself available before the CBI as and when required by the probe agency for the investigation.

Talluri's passport has already been impounded by the CBI.

The CBI had on January 18 opposed the bail plea of Talluri on the ground that he was part of the conspiracy in the entire Rs 7,136-crore (Rs 71.36-billion) accounting fraud at Satyam Computer Services Limited.

The Andhra Pradesh high court had rejected the bail pleas of Talluri and another PricewaterhouseCoopers auditor S Gopalakrishnan accused in the case.

The auditors were arrested on January 24 last year on the charge of having conspired in the fraud and are in judicial custody at Chanchalguda central jail in Andhra Pradesh.

The CBI has already filed a chargesheet against B Ramalinga Raju, founder of Satyam, and eight others, including the two auditors.