'Raju's bail won't hamper investigations'

Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said that the bail granted to B Ramalinga Raju, the tainted founder of Satyam Computer Services, will not hamper investigations.

"It (the bail) will not, it never does. The trial courts...keep this in mind. I think this is the law of the land and this does not worry us," Khurshid said.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Satyam's prime accused Raju on the condition he stay in Hyderabad and provide two sureties for Rs 20 lakh each.

On whether the bail will tarnish the Indian Government's image internationally in handling the Satyam case, Khurshid said, "We will handle....Bail is a rule, Jail is an exception."

With Ramalinga Raju getting bail, all the 10 accused in the Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) Satyam accounting fraud case have been granted bail by various courts.

Raju, who was arrested on January 7 last year, is undergoing treatment in a city hospital. Justice Raja Elango granted the bail to the former chairman of Satyam Computer, which has since been taken over by Mahindra group and renamed Mahindra Satyam, even as the CBI said he could influence witnesses, numbering 250, if let out.

Raju had in January last year written to the company's board admitting to fudging the accounts. Raju will remain in Hyderabad city until further orders, his lawyer Bharat Kumar said.

Kumar added that Raju has been cooperating in the investigations and will continue to do so without any exception. "He will scrupulously follow any conditions laid down by the court."