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The article “Satyam: Pursuing the truth” ( Business Line , January 7) gives an impression that there has been a delay on the part of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in investigating and disposing of the Satyam-related misconduct cases. Without going into the complete details of the matter, as the process of investigation is still incomplete under law, we give below actions taken by the ICAI which prove that the remarks in the article are contrary to the facts.
Within couple of days of the Satyam episode becoming public, show cause notices were issued to the concerned firm of chartered accountants asking them to name the member(s) answerable for the allegations . Later, the Ex-CFO and Ex-Internal Audit (Head) of Satyam were also called upon to submit their written statements.
Prima facie, opinion was formed against the members concerned, including those named by the concerned firm of chartered accountants by September 2009 and the Disciplinary Committee issued notice(s) for the first hearing for December 14, 2009. The enquiry was delayed by certain respondent members on the grounds of their being in jail while one even got an interim stay order before the disciplinary hearing could be initiated.
The Committee thought that it would be able to proceed smoothly once the main respondent(s) were given bail by the Supreme Court/High Court in February/June, 2010 respectively. However, these two respondent(s) moved the Court seeking stay of the Disciplinary Committee proceedings in April/August, 2010.
Pending disposal of the petitions filed by these two respondent(s), further hearing(s) could not be held till the Court passed its Order on November 22, 2010, whereafter the cases were immediately listed for hearing by the Disciplinary Committee on December 15, 2010. The matter is now fixed for next hearing by the Delhi High Court on February 4, 2011.
In all, seven hearings were held between September 2009 and December 2010, and all the efforts taken to complete the enquiry have been brought to naught by the litigant members. In respect of two members, the Court has allowed the ICAI to proceed further and the investigation has also been completed, while hearing in respect of four others could not be completed.
T. Karthikeyan, Secretary, ICAI
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