Sebi can't quiz Raju in custody: Lawyer

HYDERABAD: Ramalinga Raju's lawyer S Bharath Kumar said on Thursday that market regulator Sebi's plea to interrogate Raju would be opposed when the matter comes up for hearing on Friday. He said that Sebi's interrogation should be conducted in a "voluntary atmosphere'' and not in custody.
SEBI's lawyer on Wednesday had indicated that the regulator's probe in the case was getting delayed because of Raju being in judicial custody.There were also allegations that the state acted on Raju's arrest hastily to delay SEBI's probe into the case. Bharath Kumar said that a statement taken in custody would be involuntary. "My client would not even have access to any records, documents,'' Bharath Kumar said explaining the ground for opposing SEBI's plea. The lawyers also said that Raju would need legal consultation prior to the interrogation which was not possible in custody.
Besides, Raju's lawyer said statements recorded in judicial custody are not legally valid and that SEBI would have to wait for Raju to come out on bail to take its probe forward.
SEBI's officials investigating the case had landed in Hyderabad on January 8, within 24 hours of Raju's Rs 7,000 crore fraud confession. While SEBI had issued summons to Raju to appear in Satyam office on January 9 at 4.30 pm, he refrained from attending it in person and had his lawyer S Bharat Kumar represent him. It was on the same night that Raju was arrested.
Raju's bail plea is scheduled to come up on Friday along with SEBI's plea to interrogate him. Though Raju is charged with non-bailable offences, his lawyer said that there were "one or two bailable provisions'' that would be applied while seeking his bail in the court today.