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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Nov. 16 The Government said on Monday that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) will start prosecution in the Satyam scam this month.

“SFIO is diligently pursuing what it is supposed to do in the case and it is not letting anybody go. During this month, the SFIO will begin the prosecution on those areas of company laws that it is authorised to proceed,” the Corporate Affairs Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid, told reporters here.

However, since the SFIO does not have the capacity to chase the funds that were allegedly siphoned-off in the scam, it will help other agencies like CBI and Enforcement Directorate on those aspects, he said.

SFIO had probed the Satyam scam and submitted its reports to the Government detailing violations of company law by the founder chairman, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, and others.

The SFIO would seek prosecution of Mr Raju, his brother Mr Rama Raju, Satyam’s ex-Chief Financial Officer –– Mr Vadlamani Srinivas, and partners of the company’s former auditor Price Waterhouse – Mr S. Gopalakrishnan and Mr Srinivas Talluri – on 30 charges under the Companies Act, 1956.

In a unique initiative to be started next month, the Corporate Affairs Ministry will observe the third week of December every year as the ‘India Corporate Week’.

The focus of this year’s nation-wide ‘India Corporate Week’ will be encouraging companies to get listed on stock exchanges.

India Inc will also be asked to give more representation to minorities as well as socially and economically backward sections of the society in their respective organisations. The theme of this year’s events is ‘Corporate Sector and Inclusive Growth’.

The event is scheduled for December third week as corporate filings are done by October-end and therefore the corporate performance data would be readily available for analysis, Mr Khurshid said.

Industry chambers such as the CII, FICCI and Assocham will partner with the Ministry along with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, ICAI, ICSI, ICWAI, corporates, SMEs and young entrepreneurs.

The CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) events will focus on best practices in corporate governance, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) on corporate social responsibility and Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) on the SME sector.

This time, the weeklong events will lead to a national event in New Delhi on December 21 or 22, likely to be chaired by the Prime Minister.

Mr Khurshid said the Government hopes to get the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) Bill passed by Parliament in the Winter Session beginning November 19.

The Minister said the draft paper for setting up of EOC has been forwarded to the Union Cabinet. It will be put up before a Group of Ministers (GoM). The EOC does not “make any artificial divide between State and non-State functionary” to ensure affirmative action for deprived groups, Mr Khurshid said, adding that it breaks the barrier for regulation between private and public sectors. He said the Commission will start with focussing on employment and education aspects and will intervene when the “aspirational diversity” is not reflected in any institution.

He said ensuring affirmative action in private sector is a “difficult area”, adding that EOC has powers to take suo motu action on “diversity deficit” in any organisation.

He also said individual parties can approach the court with EOC’s findings, which will be based on comprehensive data from the Commission’s own data bank.

More Stories on : Economic Offences | Software | Satyam Computer Services Ltd

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