In a temporary relief to the beleaguered software outsourcer Satyam Computer Services, now under

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the control of Mahindra group, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday refrained the Income Tax authorities from drawing Rs 616.53 crore from outsourcer’s bank accounts.

Satyam’s legal counsel K. Vivek Reddy said a division bench of the High Court has also directed the company not to move any of the funds from the said bank accounts till month-end. The court has posted the case to 30 March for further hearings.

The court was on Friday hearing a petition filed by Satyam on 22 March against the I-T officials, challenging the department’s notice asking it to cough up Rs 616.53 crore for fraudulently claiming foreign tax credits.

The new management of the company argued that the company was a victim of a fraud committed by the founder Ramalinga Raju, who is now being prosecuted by various investigating agencies pertaining to the country’s largest accounting fraud of at least Rs 7,163 crore.

Satyam has submitted to the Court that the question of income tax does not arise on fictitious income declared by Raju, and hence the I-T authorities should be directed to consider the restated accounts and revised tax returns filed by the new management. As an interim relief, the company has sought the Court to direct the I-T authorities not to proceed with recovering the claimed tax dues from the company’s bank accounts that were attached by the I-T officials.

Reddy said the company currently has some Rs 2,900 crore of cash in several banks and the I-T authorities have attached some 10-11 bank accounts that have some Rs 1,300 crore of cash deposits. As the company can operate other bank accounts with cash deposits of around Rs 1,600 crore, the court’s interim directives would not affect its normal bank transactions, including payment of salaries to the employees, he said.