HC stays attachment of Satyam Computer funds

HYDERABAD: In a major relief to struggling IT outsourcer Satyam Computer Services, now controlled by the Mahindra Group, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has stayed the attachment of Rs 822 crore of its bank deposits by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Enforcement Directorate had on October 18 seized these funds in relation to its probe into alleged money laundering violations by Satyam's founder-promoter B Ramalinga Raju. The agency claimed these funds, now lying with Satyam under the new management as fixed deposits with various banks, were identified as proceeds of the crime masterminded by Raju. The new management of Satyam argued that it never had access to the money that the tainted founder had brought into the company.

"The situation was so bad when the government directors took over the company, they had to borrow Rs 450 crore to pay salaries. The amount attached by ED is our money," Satyam's Chairman Vineet Nayyar, representing Mahindra Group, had said.