“UPA, Andhra Pradesh governments to blame for Satyam scam”

Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday slammed the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress regime in and hra Pradesh for the “multi-crore, multi-dimensional super scam” in the Satyam Computers Limited as the “gaping holes in the regulatory agencies and other government systems” led to this fraud. Due to the government’s ‘lethargy’ and ‘failure’ to take follow-up action a mere Rs. 25-crore fraud in 2003 grew into a Rs. 75,000-crore scam now, they charged. They also demanded a probe into the happenings in the Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastrucutre Limited , promoted by the former Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju’s family, and how the and hra Pradesh government gave contracts worth Rs. 38,0000000000 to the companies whose turnover was a mere Rs. 2000000000 during 2004. At times, during the two-hour discussion on the Satyam issue, the House saw heated exchanges between the Opposition and the Congress members over who was responsible for the growth of Mr. Raju – the present Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy or his predecessor TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu. A reference by Congress member V. Arun Kumar to the donation given by Mr. Raju to an American university which ultimately helped the son of a politician in and hra Pradesh get admission to that prestigious institution drew all-round protests from the TDP members. There was another protest by the TDP when the Congress member wanted to know about the fate of the complaint given by him to Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta alleging a scam in the company of a politician. Initiating the debate on the “Satyam issue,” Roop Chand Paul (CPI-M) said various central agencies like the SEBI, the RBI, the Income-Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate and different banks “miserably failed to take note of the happenings in the company.” A woman officer of the Income-Tax Department who had detected a fraud in the Satyam accounts as early as 2003 was transferred due to the intervention of the then NDA regime. Cover-up alleged This issue was even raised in the Lok Sabha by Ramdas Bandu Athawale (RPI-A) then. He also charged that the and hra Pradesh government was “conspiring to cover up the scam” and that was the reason for not allowing the SEBI or the Serious Frauds Investigation Office to interrogate Raju initially. Mr. Paul, quoting press reports, said the and hra Pradesh government was not cooperating with the CBI as the agency was not provided even basic facilities like office and telephone. The fraud had tarnished the image of the country and its companies among the corporate sector in the world. S. Sudharkar Reddy (CPI) said the role of the and hra Pradesh government and the Centre was not satisfactory in the investigation of the Satyam episode. He denied that the Opposition was raking up the issue with a political motive. K. Yerrannaidu (TDP) said his party had no faith in the CBI, which has taken over the case, as the Supreme Court itself had slammed the premier investigating agency in the Mulayam Singh case. While B. Vinod Kumar (TRS) demanded an uninterrupted objective probe, K.S. Rao (Congress) said it was not the government but the system which had to be blamed as the auditors of Satyam could have brought out the case much earlier.