Fresh forensic audit in oppression and mismanagement proceedings can be used as a procedural aid for effective adjudication.

In proceedings under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act, a fresh forensic audit may be directed where the earlier report shows apparent anomalies and its authors cannot satisfactorily explain it. The text states that requiring an updated audit to assist decision-making is a procedural aid for effective adjudication, and a direction to dispose of the company petition expeditiously does not prevent the adjudicating authority from taking such steps. The fresh forensic audit was described as not depriving any party of rights and as supporting a just decision; the appeal was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the direction to appoint a fresh forensic auditor and call for a fresh forensic audit report in proceedings under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act, 2013 called for interference.

Analysis: The impugned direction was made to assist decision-making in the pending company petition after apparent anomalies were noticed in the earlier audit report and the authors of that report could not satisfactorily explain its contents. The Tribunal held that a direction to decide proceedings expeditiously does not justify bypassing the regular procedure or preventing the adjudicating authority from taking steps necessary for an effective adjudication of the lis. The fresh forensic audit was treated as a procedural aid to arrive at a just decision and not as a measure that deprived any party of its rights.

Conclusion: The direction for a fresh forensic audit did not warrant interference and the appeal was dismissed.

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