September 2023
From Published Accounts
By Himanshu Kishnadwala, Chartered Accountant
Reading Time 11 mins
COMPILERS’ NOTE
Disclosures regarding ‘Related Parties’ (RP) and transactions between RP and whether the same are at “Arms’ Length” continue to draw regulatory attention especially when it involves listed entities. Statutory Auditors of such listed entities are under constant scrutiny of the investors and regulators about the verification process followed and whether the same are at ‘Arms’ Length’. This process becomes all the more critical when external agencies issue reports questioning such relationships and transactions between alleged RP. In the following case, following external revelations, the statutory auditors, in their report on the quarterly and annual results had given a Qualified Opinion for transactions with certain parties for which sufficient and appropriate evidence was not available to the satisfaction of the auditors (Refer page 67 of the July 2023 issue of BCAJ). Extracts of the reports issued by the said statutory auditors u/s 143 of the Companies Act 2013 are given below. After issuing a similar qualified report for the quarter ended 30th June, 2023, the said statutory auditors submitted their resignation on 12th August, 2023 with the following reason “As discussed, we are tendering our resignation as statutory auditors of the Company with immediate effect because we are not statutory auditors of a substantial number of Other Adani Group •of
