Shock for Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone as Supreme Court permits accounts audit by CAG

Shock came for telecom giants like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone as the apex court of the country (Supreme Court) on 16th April has ruled that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was empowered to examine the accounts of private telecom companies.

In the judgment Supreme Court held that such a scrutiny was imperative to ensure that the government, which has accorded the private companies licenses of the valuable natural resources, was receiving its "legitimate share."

The Supreme Court modified the Delhi High Court order that had granted a right of statutory audit to the CAG. The SC said that the audit will not be a statutory audit or a special audit but will confine to examining the statements of accounts for ascertaining there was no loss to public exchequer.

A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Vikramjit Sen asserted that since telecom companies exploited natural resources, it had to make sure the government received its due under the revenue sharing agreement.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/4645-shock-for-bharti-airtel,-reliance-communications,-vodafone-as-supreme-court-permits-accounts-audit-by-cag.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/telecom-news/item/4645-shock-for-bharti-airtel,-reliance-communications,-vodafone-as-supreme-court-permits-accounts-audit-by-cag.html