Arrest Satyam chief, take penal action against PwC: CPI(M)

NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) on Thursday asked the government to immediately take into custody B Ramalinga Raju, who has resigned as Satyam Computer Chairman, on account of his admission of guilt in the Rs 7,800 crore scam, saying such frauds had been encouraged by deregulation and liberalisation.

Seeking penal action against Satyam's auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), the party said the "shocking revelation" about the scandal by Raju shows that "Indian big business has started emulating the worst corrupt practices of their counterparts in the advanced capitalist countries, especially the US."

Equating it with the 2001 Enron scandal in the US, it said the former Enron CEO was currently serving a 24-year prison term in the US and Enron's accounting firm Arthur Andersen had to be dissolved for its complicity in the scam.

In a statement from Kochi, where the party's Central Committee is meeting now, the CPI(M) demanded that the government "take suo motu cognizance of the admission of guilt by the Satyam Chairman and take him into custody.

"The concerned Directors in the Satyam Board and the audit firm PwC must also be held accountable for the gigantic fraud and strict penal action be initiated against them," the party said.

The party said "the PwC partners were earlier indicted for fraudulent accounting" after the collapse of the Global Trust Bank.