NCLT allows govt to open IL&FS group companies' past financial statements

The assessment was based on the interim findings of a probe by the ICAI and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

Moneycontrol was the first to break this story.

The three auditors who were in charge of IL&FS books at various points during the period, SRBC & Co, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, and BSR Associates, opposed the move, saying that they had no role in any alleged fraudulent transactions. "We don't prepare accounts. We just audit accounts, which were prepared by the company itself," lawyers for one of the auditors told the tribunal.

The tribunal told MCA to wait for the final findings of the ICAI report before determining any fault on the part of the auditors. It did, however, observe that that the SFIO interim report had raised serious concerns over the accounting practices at the company.

At the last hearing, after MCA had sought to open IL&FS’ books under a rare provision of companies’ law not invoked before, the NCLT had asked it to send notices Sebi, RBI, Income Tax and other statutory authorities. A counsel for SEBI counsel told the court it did not have any problem in re-opening of the group’s listed companies’ financial statements.