Special court for speedy Satyam trial soon

A special court, headed by an additional chief metropolitan magistrate, will be set up soon in Hyderabad for a speedy trial of the Satyam Computers fraud case.

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet, which met on Thursday under the chairmanship of chief minister K Rosaiah, accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation's request for setting up such a court.

The CBI, which took over the investigations into the Satyam scandal in February this year, has filed a chargesheet against B Ramalinga Raju and others in the 14th additional chief metropolitan magistrate court.

The CBI deputy inspector general of police in a letter to the AP government and the AP high court had requested that a special court be established to try those involved in the corporate fraud.

As the metropolitan magistrate courts and the additional chief metropolitan magistrate courts are overburdened with cases, the High Court recommended to the state government that a special court be set up.

According to the CBI, there are 433 witnesses, 1,532 documents and 62 material objects in the case. The chargesheet itself runs into about 65,000 pages.

The state cabinet approved the CBI request as well as the high court recommendation and decided to establish the special court, a senior minister said after the meeting.