The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay inquiry initiated by Sebi against PriceWaterhouse auditors Srinivas Talluri and Subramani Gopalakrishnan,accused in the Rs 14,000-crore Satyam scam. A bench headed by justice DK Jain sought reply from the market regulator after the auditors challenged the Bombay High Courts order that allowed Sebi to commence its inquiry against them. Gopalakrishnan and Talluri had approached the apex court seeking deferment of the Sebi proceedings against them pending the criminal trial going on in a Hyderabad court and disciplinary proceedings before the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). They said claimed that Sebi was encroaching on the jurisdiction of the ICAI according to the Chartered Accountants Act,1949. The CBI investigating the Satyam scam has filed three charge sheets against Gopalakrishnan and Talluri for criminal conspiracy and cheating among other charges. Satyam Computer Services,now Mahindra Satyam,has also filed a suit in a Hyderabad court against its former board of directors,certain employees and the companys audit firm PwC seeking damages for allegedly perpetrating fraud. PwC too has filed a suit against former chairman of Satyam,B Ramalinga Raju,and others claiming damages of Rs 100 crore for deliberately concealing key information that led to the accounting fraud. FE
