HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday declined to hear the appeals filed by B Ramalinga Raju and others of erstwhile Satyam Computers Services Limited challenging the trial court order that convicted them in the multi-crore accounting fraud case. The court held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain these appeals.
Recently, the trial court i.e. XXI Additional chief metropolitan magistrate (Special CBI court), Hyderabad convicted Ramalinga Raju and nine others in the multi-crore scam. Currently, they were lodged in Cherlapally Central prison here.
Ramalinga Raju and others moved the High Court after their appeals were rejected by the Metropolitan Session judge of Hyderabad which declared that the appeals were not maintainable as the Sessions Judge has no jurisdiction over the special court as it was designated as sessions court.
The state government has designated the XXI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court as sessions court to try the offences against the accused in the said fraud case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The High Court Registry has raised an objection over the jurisdiction of hearing the appeals by the High Court.
When the appeals of Ramalinga Raju and nine others came up for hearing, Justice T Sunil Chowdary asked the counsels for the appellants and the CBI to assist the court to decide the matter. The counsels unanimously contended that the High Court has no jurisdiction to hear the appeals. The judge declared that the appeals of Raju and others lie only before a court of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge.