rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted October 9, 2010 Source: Economic Times NEW DELHI: A Jaipur-based auditor that had examined the books of Reliance Communications, or RCom, as part of a government-ordered investigation has sought protection from the telecom ministry, alleging a campaign of "harassment" by the Anil Ambani Group company. The auditor, Parakh & Co, wrote on October 1 to telecom minister A Raja and several senior officials of his ministry, saying it had received a notice from the anti-extortion cell, crime branch, Navi Mumbai, asking for documents and records relating to the RCom audit. The police was acting after a criminal complaint from RCom, the audit firm added. The auditor has told DoT that it had examined RCom's books on the department's directions as part of its professional commitment. "In doing our duties as directed by the government, we have unwillingly become victim of personal stigmatisation by a big industrial house," its communication added. ET has seen a copy of the audit firm's communication to Mr Raja. The letter claimed that the firm had been at the receiving end of a barrage of allegations from RCom and the police notice was the last straw. A spokesman for RCom said the company was merely following through on a statement made by chairman Anil Ambani while addressing the media and analysts on October 15, 2009. Mr Ambani had said at the time that the company was taking all steps to counter what he described as a "vicious and mala fide campaign of falsehoods and disinformation conducted against the group". These steps included "lodging a formal complaint with Sebi to probe the hammering of group stocks", as well as "lodging a formal complaint with the cyber crime police authorities to investigate the dissemination of false and malicious emails against the group from bogus IDs". Mr Ambani had also promised to take up "the conduct and actions of the special auditors with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India through our statutory auditors". Following Mr Ambani's pronouncements, RCom filed voluminous complaints with DoT, ministry of corporate affairs and other agencies in October and December 2009. The gist of these complaints is that "the entire report was drafted for the purpose of sensationalising irrelevant matters". This was done "apparently at the instance of its corporate rivals to hammer down its stocks". On Friday evening, RCom provided copies of these filings to ET. Though the police complaint was filed in October 2009, Parakh & Co received the police notice in the middle of September this year, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. RCom officials had earlier accused Parakh & Co of leaking the report. The police had been asked to nail the culprits, said an official of the Anil Ambani Group. In its letter, the audit firm has asked the telecom department if it should hand over the documents sought by the Navi Mumbai police as the agreement it had signed with the government bars sharing any audit-related information with third parties. A DoT official confirmed that the department had received a complaint from Parakh & Co, but declined to divulge any details or the government's stand. The Jaipur-based firm has alleged that RCom had filed 'false complaints' against it with the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India in an attempt to harm the reputation of the firm and its partners. Its October 1 letter further goes on to say RCom had filed complaints against it with the Registrar of Companies, terming it 'yet another attempt by the telco to play with the professional integrity of the firm and its representatives'. An RCom executive who declined to be named trashed the charge of harassment because the company and its chairman had publicly announced that it would seek action against Parakh & Co. "The auditors' move to approach the government on this issue now is an attempt at sensationalising it. How can they claim harassment when we have publicly announced our intention to counter the auditors' attempts at levelling baseless allegations against us?" this executive said. RCOM audit The auditor had examined the books of Reliance Communications at the behest of the department of telecommunications, or DoT, and had come to the conclusion that India's second-largest telecom company had under-reported revenues in 2006-07 and 2007-08, causing losses to the exchequer. The report said RCom had failed to show revenues of `2,799.19 crore, causing losses of `315 crore to the government in terms of licence and spectrum fees. The telecom department had appointed the special auditor after the Cellular Operators' Association of India, a grouping of GSM mobile operators, had alleged under-reporting of revenues by RCOM. The audit was later extended to RCom's rivals, including Bharti Airtel , Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted October 9, 2010 We, the common man can never ever know for sure what goes on inside the big businesses. One thing for sure - IT GETS HANDS DIRTY. So let us all not waste our time speculating on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vishalmcp 8 Report post Posted October 11, 2010 i agree dude...... there is always some mess in such big firms..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
