Even as the Reserve Bank of India's letter alleging “misconduct” by statutory auditors of Global Trust Bank (GTB) does not constitute a formal complaint, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) intends to write to the auditors concerned seeking their views on the matter. A period of two weeks would be granted to the auditors concerned to reply to the letter of the ICAI.
“We have received the letter from RBI stating that there has been misconduct by auditors in the GTB case. The letter is not a complaint as far as the institute is concerned. But we will act on this information from the central bank and seek information from all relevant parties,” Mr Sunil Goyal, President, ICAI, told Business Line here.
He pointed out that the Chartered Accountant Act and Regulations requires a form (form-8) to be filled along with the requisite fees (payment of fees only in certain cases) and evidence to support the complaint.
“There is a procedure for complaint against a member. Even if such a procedure is not adhered to, we can act on information provided to us,” Mr Goyal said.
On the GTB matter, the ICAI intends to seek information and views from the auditors concerned, the management of GTB and even the RBI. Once collected from the parties, the information and evidence would be submitted to the Central Council. It is the Central Council, which can take a final call on whether the matter needs to be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the institute or not, the ICAI President said.
Asked whether the institute's letter would be only to the auditor of GTB for the financial year 2002-03, the ICAI President indicated that the letters would be sent to the auditors concerned of GTB for the financial years 2001-02 and 2002-03.
“The letter that we received from the central bank pertained to more than one financial year and more than one auditor,” Mr Goyal said.
