Rotation of auditor issue won by one vote in ICAI

 The results of a vote on the issue early this week reveal that those favouring auditor rotation won the day with a wafer-thin margin.

 According to ICAI sources, there was a vertical split in the 29-member central council, which includes six government nominees.

 There were three absentees, including G C Shrivastava, joint secretary in the revenue department.

 Rajiv Mehrishi, joint secretary in the department of company affairs, did not cast his vote. A dozen members voted against rotation of auditors and lost by a single vote.

 At least two past presidents of ICAI, as well as present president R Bupathy and vice-president Sunil Goyal, were against the proposal of mandatory auditor rotation, the sources said.

 Three members from audit firms, domestic affiliates of the Big Four, also did not favour the motion, they added.

 The sources said Bupathy and Goyal generally abstained from voting on proposals taken up by the central council, the apex decision-making body of ICAI. On this occasion, however, they had cast their votes.

 The sources added that ICAI