NFRA bars ex-Deloitte CEO for 7 years, slaps Rs 25L fine for his role in IL&FS fraud

India’s National Financial Reporting Authority, the audit regulator has de-barred Udayan Sen, for seven years and slapped a penalty of Rs 25 lakh for his role in the audit of fraud hit IL&FS Financial Services Ltd (IFIN).

Sen, a former CEO of Deloitte India was the main engagement partner for Deloitte Haskins and Sells that was the auditor of IFIN.

“Udayan Sen is debarred for the period of seven years from being appointed as an auditor or internal auditor or undertaking any audit in respect of financial statements or internal audit of the functions and activities of any company or body corporate,” NFRA said in a statement on Wednesday.

In the report NFRA said that it has already given substantial time to Sen to file is reply.

Sen had filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court after NFRA issued a show cause notice in January.

In the writ petition Sen said that NFRA wasn’t even formed when the audit of IFIN was conducted. He goes on to argue that any penalty on him would be “retrospective” because a regulator and regulations formed afterwards doesn’t have jurisdiction over an event that occurred earlier.

In his writ petition Sen has also submitted that he did not have a “benefit of hindsight” while auditing IFIN. And that certain position that he and his team took was based on the situations that were present when they were auditing IFIN.

NFRA order also mentions that it is not applicable till July 31, when the next date of the Delhi High Court hearing is set.

NFRA in the order said that professional misconduct becomes very serious when the CA (chartered accountant) has gone along with the management of the company in agreeing to misstatements/omissions so as to commit a fraud on the users of financial statements.

NFRA has already made its report on IFIN audit of Deloitte Haskins & Sells public. The regulator in the report has said that Deloitte Haskins & Sells, which audited the books of IL&FS Financial Services Limited, had failed to comply with the relevant accounting standards. The NFRA report, however, has not mentioned any penalty against Deloitte.

Deloitte Haskins & Sells was the principal auditor for IL&FS till 2016-17 and was replaced by SRBC & Co, an EY affiliated firm, for the next two fiscal years. For ITNL, Deloitte Haskins and Sells was the sole auditor in 2015 and joint auditor along with SRBC & Co in 2016-17. From 2017 to 2019, SRBC took over as sole auditor. For IFIN, Deloitte was the sole auditor till 2016-17, joint auditor along with BSR & Co for 2017-18. BSR took over as the sole auditor of the company from 2018-19.

“As a professional accounting firm we are surprised and concerned that the NFRA has chosen to issue and make public an order against a former partner of the firm, in spite of the question of its jurisdiction being sub-judice and awaiting adjudication and disposal by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court,” a Deloitte spokesperson said.