With the report of the special audit into the accounts of Reliance Communication (RCom) stating that the company had misclassified its income to avoid paying licence fees and overstated its mobile phone income (by around a fourth) in other ways, you’d think the Ministry of Corporate Affairs would be interested in examining the report and taking appropriate action.
Not so, it would appear. A joint director in the ministry, RK Meena, has just sent a letter to the telecom secretary, asking whether the corporate affairs ministry has to take any action. The letter begins by citing a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) which, in turn, cites the special audit report’s findings. It then talks of the allegations that the auditors are in collusion with RCom’s management — a similar complaint, the joint director says, was received from Praveen Rashtrapal, an MP. The ministry’s letter then goes on to pass the buck, saying, “As a matter of fact, the references should have been sent to DoT, being the controlling Ministry/Department”. The letter goes on to suggest the telecom secretary let the PMO know it is taking some action.
The parting comment tells it all: “In case it is felt that this Ministry is required to take action under the Companies Act, the same may be referred to this Ministry highlighting the issues that are required to be examined.” And, in case you think the joint director hasn’t been able to understand the issues at hand despite these being pointed out by the PMO, the letter says “this issues with the approval of Corporate Affairs Minister (Salman Khurshid)”. A copy has been marked to the PMO as well.
