SEBI to appeal against court order: Gupta

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta on Tuesday announced that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would file an appeal against the Hyderabad Court’s decision denying it a day’s custody of former Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju. “With SEBI’s application, there were certain technical issues. Now they would appeal to the court again... SEBI is very active and so is the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Registrar of Companies (RoC),” Mr Gupta told the media here. The market regulator, which is investigating the charges of insider trading in Satyam shares, had sought a day’s custody of the two brothers who are now in judicial custody. The request, however, was turned down by the sixth additional chief metropolitan magistrate on January 23. To questions on the progress of SFIO’s probe into Satyam’s affairs, the Minister said “Everything is in process. Nobody is relaxing. We are equally concerned.” On the issue of appointment of a new chief executive officer (CEO) and new chief financial officer (CFO) for the crisis-ridden IT major, he said “The [government-nominated six-member] board is absolutely competent and will take a view on that.”