Treat Raju better, it ain't just Satyam

Agreed, Ramalinga Raju fudged the books, but that doesn't mean he should get bracketed with hardened criminals. I am not the legal expert here, but shouldn't Raju be treated differently from the criminals with whom he was lodged after being taken into custody?

For Pete's sake, the man did build a business enterprise that created value for stakeholders. Sure, that value is eroding, but that's no reason to treat him at par with criminals awaiting trial in cases like rape and murder.

And just so we don't get carried away, corporate governance issues don't just stop at Satyam. Instead, they bring to focus the kind of practices that most Indian businesses engage in. Take the case of real estate companies in India. Senior board directors of over six top real estate companies have quit in the recent past, prompting speculation that suspect accounting policies employed in the Indian real estate sector could be the main reason for such exits. During the past few months, directors and senior executives of large firms such as Omaxe, Puravankara Projects, Kolte Patil, Akruti City, Parsvnath, BPTP and Ansal Properties have resigned.