All India Chartered Accountants Society (AICAS) has written a detailed letter to Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary and other income tax officials drawing their attention on the summoning of Chartered Accountants (CAs) and seeking working papers from them.

The Subject of the letter is Role of Chartered Accountants and Auditors – Complaint against Summoning of Chartered Accountants (CAs) and seeking working papers.

In the letter, AICAS gives detail accounts of the law mandated for working papers.

“The Parliament of India has recognized a very important fact in terms of The Chartered Accountants Act that the Auditor’s information has to be kept strictly Confidential unless otherwise required by law specifically in terms of direct powers to examine or review Auditor’s records and working papers, the working papers and Audit files are privileged and Confidential information,” AICAS said in the letter.

“…However, the auditor may, at his discretion, in cases considered appropriate by him, make portions of or extracts from his working papers available to the client.

There is a difference between sharing of working papers and sharing of information. So far as the information is concerned, he can provide the same to the client or to a Regulatory body after obtaining the consent of the client.

If under any legal compulsion and if it is not legally permissible to claim privilege under the Evidence Act, 1872 (S.126), the disclosure made by a member of such information may not be considered as misconduct. However, such matters involve niceties of law and expert legal advice may be sought prior to such disclosure…,” AICAS further stated.

Read the letter below:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hYa14-n8nhLe5xOpeD-VAM55SjsJdLqY

—India Legal Bureau