Satyam scam: End of the road for Ramalinga Raju or CBI?

After over three years since India Inc’s biggest scam came to light, an end might be in sight. The court hearing the Satyam scam case is likely to complete examination of CBI officials in a week's time. CNBC-TV18’s Appaji Reddem reports that a judgment can be expected anytime within the next three months.

Ramalinga Raju's fate may soon become clear. It's been over three years since his confession letter brought the Rs 7,000 crore scam into the public domain and after a lengthy CBI investigation, three chargesheets and a long-winding trial process the end is almost in sight.
The trial court hearing in the Satyam case is expected to finish examining the last witness from the CBI in a week. After that it will examine the defence witnesses and then pronounce its judgement which should take three months. The CBI is confident it has provided abundant evidence and will succeed in proving its allegations.
Senior counsel for the CBI K Surender says, “We have provided abundant evidence and we are confident that we will succeed in proving the allegations. Secondly, if at all there is a conviction according to max imprisonment it will be life as per 4.9. This court is empowered to grant seven years imprisonment for each count that is each section of IPC."
All the accused in the scam - former Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju, managing director Rama Raju, CFO V Srinivas, former employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatapathi Raju and CH Srisailam, the former chief internal auditor VS Prabhakar Gupta and PwC's former auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas are now out on bail.
But the CBI says it has provided evidence of key aspects of the case like fudging of accounts and collusion with auditors and if found guilty, all of them are liable for punishment.
Surender confirms that they have given both the oral documentary evidence on collusion between external auditors and the company concerned. “Now how far the court believes, we will come to know once the judgment is delivered,” he adds.
The case may be over as far as the Satyam trial court is concerned but if found guilty, the accused can still appeal to the higher courts and with appeals-related procedures to be followed, experts say it may be another two years before this chapter in India Inc's history  is laid to rest.