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February 2009

Section C : Withdrawal of Audit Report issued earlier : Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

By Himanshu V. Kishnadwala, Chartered Accountant
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Compilers’ Note :


In the case of the above company, Statutory Audit Reports and
Limited Review Reports for the period June 2000 to September 2008 were issued by
the Statutory Auditors as required under the provisions of the Companies Act,
1956 and Clause 41 of the Listing Guidelines. In view of certain developments,
the said reports have been withdrawn by the Statutory Auditors by writing a
letter to the new Board of Directors and the Company Secretary with copies
marked to the ROC, SEBI, RBI, CBDT, BSE, NSE, NYSE. The said letter of the
Statutory Auditors is reproduced below.

 

Dear Sirs,


Re : Our audit of your financial statements


1. As statutory auditors, we performed audits of Satyam
Computer Services Limited (the ‘Company’) from the quarter ended June
2000 until the quarter ended September 30, 2008 (‘Audit Period’).

 

2. The above-referred financial statements were prepared by
the management of the Company.

 

3. We planned and performed the required audit procedures on
such financial statements, and examined the books and records of the Company
produced before us by the Company management. We placed reliance on management
controls over financial reporting, and the information and explanations provided
by the management, as also the verbal and written representations made to us
during the course of our audits.

 

4. As you are aware, vide a letter dated January 7, 2009 (“Chairman’s
Letter”
) addressed to the erstwhile Board of Directors of the Company, the
former Chairman of the Company, Mr. Ramalinga Raju has stated that the financial
statements of the Company have been inaccurate for successive years. The
contents of the said letter, even if partially accurate, may have a material
effect (which effect is currently unknown and cannot be quantified without a
thorough investigation) on the veracity of the Company’s financial statements
presented to us during the Audit Period. Consequently, our opinions on the
financial statements may be rendered inaccurate and unreliable. A copy of the
Chairman’s Letter, extracted from the official website of the National Stock
Exchange is annexed hereto as Annexure A, for the sake of record. (not
reproduced here
)

 

5. The ICAI has issued a guidance note on revision of audit
reports in January 2003 (‘Guidance Note’), which prescribes steps to be
followed by the auditor to prevent reliance on audit reports in such
circumstances. In view of the contents of the Chairman’s Letter, we hereby, in
accordance with the Guidance Note, state that our audit reports and opinions in
relation to the financial statements for the Audit Period should no longer be
relied upon.

 

6. Such a requirement is also prescribed under the generally
accepted accounting standards in the United States, where, as you are aware, the
American Depository Receipts of the Company are listed. We wish to inform you
that pursuant to Section 10A of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of
1934, the information contained in the Chairman’s Letter indicates that an
illegal act could have occurred. Accordingly, we advise that the Board of
Directors of the Company should promptly commence an independent investigation
pursuant to Section 10A of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934
in order to determine whether such illegal acts occurred and, if so, the nature
and extent of such acts.

 

7. We hope to work with the Company and provide assistance to
the new Board of Directors to address any issues that arise in the course of
such investigation, to enable both the Company and us as your Statutory Auditors
to fulfil obligations under applicable law.

 

8. We wish to advise that the Company should promptly notify
any person or entity that is known to be relying upon or is unlikely to rely
upon our audit report that our audit opinion should no longer be relied upon.

 

9. Consequently, such notification should be made to at least
the Company’s shareholders, lenders, creditors, Indian regulatory authorities
and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and indeed to all the
stock exchanges, whether in India or abroad, where such securities of the
company are listed. We expect such notification would be made promptly and
request that the Company advise us as soon as the notification has been made.
Since we are required under the Guidance Note to mark a copy of this letter to
the relevant regulatory authorities, we have done so.

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