CAG’s move to hire CA firms won’t affect audit independence, says ICAI

The ICAI or the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, made a statement on Friday that said the independence of apex auditors who are engaged with the CA firms by CAG, will not be compromised.

This statement comes after Madurai MP S. Venkatesan (CPM) wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu opposing the plan of CAG that aims at hiring CA firms in order to audit central autonomous bodies that will strengthen the auditing procedure.

The ICAI said, “Rather (it is) a strategic step to ensure effective coverage, domain-specific audit quality, and timely audit execution,” it further added that the decision is completely supported by professional standards and ethical guidelines mentioned in the framework of the ICAI.

“Additionally, the scheme is expected to contribute to the organisation’s (CAG) capacity building, which would be used to augment compliance and performance audits of the autonomous bodies,” the statement said.

The letter written by the MP claims that this decision will weaken the independence of CAG. Anand Mohan Bajaj, who is the Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (Commercial), said on Thursday that this move will strengthen the auditing process.