Court says hearing to frame charges against Tech Mahindra-Satyam can take place

MUMBAI: Tech Mahindra has received an interim order stating that the hearing to frame charges against it may take place. This was after the Enforcement Directorate appealed an earlier order quashing the prosecution of Satyam Computer Services, which is now part of Tech Mahindra.

Tech Mahindra became a party to the prosecution initiated against Satyam and others by the Enforcement Directorate, when it bought the company in a government-backed merger.

The interim order states that the hearing to frame charges may take place against Satyam, Tech Mahindra said in a filing to the BSE. If the company was discharged, the interim order would stand vacated.

However, if charges are framed, the proceeding against Tech Mahindra in the trial court would be kept in abeyance until appeal is fully heard before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The Satyam saga has been going on for about six years now, when India's biggest corporate accounting scandal broke. Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju confessed to the Rs 7,136 crore fraud on January 7, 2009, sparking a series of events that led to his prosecution and the company's takeover by Tech Mahindra.

On Thursday, the Special Court convicted Raju and nine others of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, among other crimes. Raju was sentenced to seven years in jail.