The convicted perpetrators of one of India's biggest corporate frauds are now out on bail pending an appeal against their guilty verdicts. Satyam Computers founder B. Ramalinga Raju and nine others were convicted in a fair trial of a massive fraud which netted them some $400 million, but cost investors $2 billion when the information technology company collapsed in 2009. Raju and his brother B. Rama Raju are, along with their fellow conspirators, facing sentences of up to seven years rigorous imprisonment. Their release on bail has been made on condition that a tenth of the fines imposed upon them are paid and that substantial bonds are lodged with the court. It must be hoped that the Metropolitan Sessions Court in Hyderabad has been wise. It does not appear that the convicted men have been required to surrender their passports. They had only been in jail for a month following their convictions. Throughout the long, drawn out criminal trial, they had not been remanded in custody but had remained at liberty. The court may have reasoned that since the men had not sought to quit the country during the proceedings, they were unlikely to do so now. This is, however, to overlook the fact that the Raju brothers and their eight partners in crime may have hoped that they would be found innocent. They now know their fate. The temptation to sacrifice their bonds and use their ill-gotten gains to seek to escape justice must be considerable. If this were to happen, one of the biggest scandals to engulf the Indian corporate world would be compounded. Questions would be asked about the court and there is a clear danger that the reputation of the judiciary could be further impugned. And of course there is a wider risk. India's economic progress has been stifled by red tape, bureaucratic inefficiency and extensive corruption. Arbitrary government action against foreign investors, for instance over the retrospective application of swingeing tax demands, has inhibited the flows of outside investment and technology transfer that are key to the country's rapid growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will this week mark his first year in office. Much of his program for a business-friendly India remains to be implemented. Mending fences with foreign investors is still a work in progress. He has not yet shaken up India's institutions, including the judiciary, demanding that they abandon their lackadaisical former ways and focus on the fair but speedy execution of their functions. The government should not be interfering in the judicial process as it applies to the Satyam Computers scam. Rightly or wrongly the Hyderabad court has ruled and freed 10 men who have made themselves extremely rich through a massive fraud. There is, however, one very important step that the authorities can take to ensure that this stain on India's corporate reputation does not spread further. All 10 of these convicted fraudsters should be placed under the closest surveillance. The government must be absolutely certain that there is no way whatsoever for these men to slip out of the country and escape justice. If this did happen, there would follow inevitable accusations of bribery and corruption which would be very hard to counter. Those who have dedicated themselves to cleaning up India's administrative and corporate reputation would be in despair, because the country would have made itself a laughingstock.
