IFIN: NFRA orders against Deloitte partners to be on hold for now

The recent separate disciplinary orders of Audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) against Deloitte Haskins & Seles (DHS) partners in the IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) audit for 2017-18 will continue to be on hold even as there is no legal stay by Delhi High Court on the same.

This emerged at a Delhi Hight Court hearing on the matter on Friday. Next date of hearing has been fixed for August 18, sources close to the development said.

In the meanwhile, the concerned individual partners— Udayan Sen ( former Deloitte India CEO and now retired from DHS), Rukshad Daruvala and Shrenik Baid—have decided to move modifications to their existing writ petitions before the Delhi High Court in line with the orders passed by the NFRA, it is learnt.

It may be recalled that the NFRA Rules put into effect in the year 2018 specifies that a disciplinary order issued for disposing a show cause notice will not be effective until 30 days had elapsed after the date of issue of order or unless otherwise specified in the order with reasons for the same. The three orders issued so far in this IFIN case are dated on July 22 (Udayan Sen), July 23 (Rukshad Daruvala) and July 28 (Shrenik Baid). All the three orders had said that the order would not be given effect to till July 31.

NFRA had in the IFIN case in the last ten days imposed ₹25 lakh fine and seven year ban on former Deloitte India CEO Udayan Sen ; ₹5 lakh fine and five year ban on Rukshad Daruvala, who was the Engagement Quality Control reviewer in the IFIN statutory audit for 2017-18 and fine of ₹15 lakh and five year ban on DHS Partner Shrenik Baid.