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In a rare instance, Mahindra Satyam, which had bought out the scam-affected Satyam Computer Services, has filed a case against Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, founder Chairman of the latter, and others in a city civil court here, seeking damages.
Coincidentally, the development came exactly three years after the arrest of Mr Raju (on January 9, 2009) in the Rs 7,136-crore financial scam that rocked corporate India.
Though the contents of the petition are not known yet, sources said Mahindra Satyam has claimed damages to the tune of Rs 267 crore for the enormous loss of money and reputation it has suffered.
Not the final claim
Sources in the company said the damages sought in the present case are not final. “The company withholds the right to claim more damages at a later point of time. We could seek more damages later to compensate for huge outgoes to settle class action suits, the Upaid settlement, and the charges levied by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States,” they said.
The Board of Directors under Mr Raju; Mr Vadlamani Srinivas, the former Chief Financial Officer; certain former employees, and Price Waterhouse, which audited the company's numbers before the crisis, were also mentioned in the case.
The then high-profile board consisted of Prof M. Rammohan Rao, Dr Mangalam Srinivasan, Mr T. R. Prasad, Mr Vinod Dham, Prof Krishna Palepu and Prof V. S. Raju.
The present management alleged that the company suffered huge losses financially as the main accused perpetrated the fraud over a period of time, while others colluded with them.
They resorted to breach of trust and did not meet obligations as they failed in performing their duties.
Mr Vineet Nayyar, Chairman of Mahindra Satyam, had gone on record more than once that the company would file cases against Mr Raju and others, holding them responsible for the losses. The company paid about $125 million to settle class-action suits filed by a batch of aggrieved investors that sought compensation for erosion of stock.
It paid $10 million more to the SEC to clear itself from the charges slapped by the US regulator.
The Satyam stock plummeted after Mr Raju admitted to fraud on January 7, 2009. He claimed that he had to borrow Rs 1,230 crore from some firms to run the show. After the new management took over, property firms allegedly promoted by Mr Raju and his family filed a case against Mahindra Satyam demanding that it pay back the money Satyam Computer Services had borrowed.
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