Satyam: Punishment should have been stricter, says Mohandas Pai

Corporate leaders and lawyers on Thursday welcomed the verdict by a special court in Hyderabad that convicted erstwhile Satyam chief B Ramalinga Raju and nine others in the Rs 7,000-crore (Rs 70 billion) fraud but regretted that it has taken too long to deliver justice.

“It has taken six years in a dynamic economy, (that) is too much," chairman of Manipal Global Education, T V Mohandas Pai said.

He, however, said, "six years is much, much better than what was done earlier".

“We have come a long way and this is very good news. Next time we have any such scandal, wish we can prosecute in 2-3 years," Pai said.

On the quantum of punishment, he said. "I don't think whether you can find these scandals, the auditors failed, the audit committee failed, everybody failed in the system but the punishment should have been stricter."

Noted lawyer Harish Salve said the case has taken long as "we do not have the infrastructure in our courts to deal with these kind of cases".

He added: "It has shown that even if it takes time, we are now matured enough to deal with these kind of complex cases of corporate fraud and investigate them thoroughly and arrive at verdict."

Another leading lawyer KTS Tulsi said this is one of the first major crimes in the electronic age and all business houses needed to understand that electronic evidence leaves enough foot print for the investigative agencies to be able to dig up the entire character which is unimpeachable.

"So there is no place to hide in the modern age. This should be a warning to all the business houses that any one indulging in forgery, has serious able risk to be found out," he added.

Stating that the "landmark judgement" was on the expected lines, former Securities and Exchange Board of India executive director J N Gupta said, "it will make sure that in future such things are brought to justice."

He, however, lamented that it has taken too long for the verdict to come.

"If we remember, the admission was sometime in January 2009 and we are in April 2015. Over six years have passed. I think there is a need that system should be improved and justice should be done in timely manner," Gupta said.

Expressing similar sentiments, another ex-Sebi executive director P R Ramesh, said while the order is good, but it "came in quite late".

"This is a case where there has been admission and after such a long time order is coming...The system has taken lot of time to come up with a conclusion on the offence that was contested. This actually creates a need for fast track courts (FTCs) for this type of corporate frauds," he added.

Audit firm Price Waterhouse said it was 'disappointed' by the verdict.

"As we have said many times, there has never been any evidence presented that either of our former partners S Gopalakrishnan or Srinivas Talluri were involved in or were aware of the management-led fraud at Satyam. We understand that Gopal and Talluri are considering filing an appeal against this verdict," Price Waterhouse said in a statement.

Corporate lawyer H P Ranina said corporates would have taken cognisance of the punishment and it would act as deterrent for may people.

"Normally in India people just got away with these kinds of frauds in the past but the times are changing and that’s a good sign. People are now getting punished," Ranina said.

Image: Satyam Computers founder and former chairman B Ramalinga Raju. Photograph: File photo/PTI