https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783945 A forensic audit report used as the sole basis for show-cause notices and fraud proceedings must be prepared and signed by persons meeting the statutory qualifications applicable to auditors. The Bombay HC read the RBI framework harmoniously with the Companies Act, 2013, and noted that an auditor must be a Chartered Accountant and, where a firm or LLP acts as auditor, the authorised signatory must also be a Chartered Accountant. Because the report was signed by a non-Chartered Accountant and the firm was not an ICAI-registered Chartered Accountants firm, the Court treated the report as legally infirm. Later RBI Master Directions were described as clarificatory and incapable of curing that foundational defect, so interim protection was granted against further action based on the report. en-us Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 24 Dec 2025 17:53:10 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783945 A forensic audit report used as the sole basis for show-cause notices and fraud proceedings must be prepared and signed by persons meeting the statutory qualifications applicable to auditors. The Bombay HC read the RBI framework harmoniously with the Companies Act, 2013, and noted that an auditor must be a Chartered Accountant and, where a firm or LLP acts as auditor, the authorised signatory must also be a Chartered Accountant. Because the report was signed by a non-Chartered Accountant and the firm was not an ICAI-registered Chartered Accountants firm, the Court treated the report as legally infirm. Later RBI Master Directions were described as clarificatory and incapable of curing that foundational defect, so interim protection was granted against further action based on the report. Case-Laws Companies Law Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=783945