SAT relief for Satyam Raju

Stays Sebi penalty of Rs 1,849 cr plus 12% interest

• Sebi asked to file an affidavit by Nov 7
• Next hearing posted to December

Mumbai: The Securities Appellate Tribunal on Monday stayed the Rs 1,849-crore penalty that Sebi had slapped on the founder-chairman of Satyam, B Ramalinga Raju, and four others, but upheld a ban on them from accessing the markets.

The tribunal posted the matter for further hearing in December, when it will decide whether to admit the pleas of the Raju brothers and others against Sebi order.

The tribunal asked Sebi to explain why such a large amount was imposed as part of a disgorgement order and to file an affidavit stating its position by November 7. The tribunal also asked Raju and four others named in the scam to file counter-affidavits by December 15.

The four others facing the prohibitory orders are Raju's brother B Rama Raju, Vadlamani Srinivas (ex-chief financial officer), G Ramakrishna (ex-vice president) and VS Prabhakara Gupta (ex-head of internal audit).

Following the Sebi order, the Raju brothers had moved the SAT last Friday. Sebi on July 15 barred Raju and four others from accessing the market for 14 years and asked them to return `1,849 crore in unlawful gains with 12 per cent interest, in total a disgorgement amount of over `3,000 crore. Sebi asked them to pay up within 45 days of the order, closing five-and-a-half year long probe into the country's biggest corporate fraud.