SEBI seeks SC permission to interrogate Raju

Market regulator SEBI is seeking the Supreme Court's permission to interrogate Satyam'sdisgraced founder Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju inconnection with the Rs 7,800-crore fraud in the IT company. Solicitor General G E Vahanvati submitted the request before a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on behalf of SEBI. The bench has posted the matter for mentioning Tuesday. Last week, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had posted SEBI's identical plea for hearing on 9th February without giving an ex-parte order allowing the regulator to quiz the Raju brothers. SEBI had moved the high court challenging a lower court order, which denied it permission to interrogate the Raju brothers, who are in judicial custody. A probe team from SEBI had landed in Hyderabad on 8th January, a day after Ramalinga Raju disclosed the massive accounting fraud in the IT company. According to the market regulator, the high court should have seen that the Raju brothers cannot use judicial custody as a shield to avoid probe by expert agencies. "The judge ought to have seen Section 167 (2) Criminal Procedure Code which gives a magistrate power to authorise the detention of the accused in such custody as he thinks fit," the petition filed through K J John and Co stated. "He can grant a remand either to judicial custody or custody of other agency like SEBI who are not police officers if the circumstances require and permit them to record the statements of the accused," the petition stated, adding that SEBI has powers and obligations under the SEBI Act 1992 to investigate, "but is being thwarted at every stage." SEBI further said that just as police apply for custody, any other agency can also apply for access or custody and the same can be granted and the refusal to permit SEBI even to record the statements of the accused while in the custody was "arbitrary, unreasonable and perverse". According to SEBI, merely because investigations by different agencies like CID, Enforcement Directorate, Serious Frauds Investigation Office, Registrar of Companies, etc may overlap, it cannot be said that they cannot investigate simultaneously pursuant to the power conferred on them under their respective statutes. Stating that the scam in the NYSE-listed Satyam Computer was the worst in the country's history, the advocates said that the company's market capitalisation has fallen from Rs 15,000 crores to Rs 2,000 crores.

"Loved reading this piece by Prakash Yedhula?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group