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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has reprimanded a Chartered Accountant for failing to exercise due diligence while certifying Form AOC-4 filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The order was passed by the Disciplinary Committee (Bench-IV) under Section 21B(3) of t
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FAQ :
Form AOC-4 is a form filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to submit financial statements and audit reports of a company.
The Chartered Accountant was accused of failing to exercise due diligence while certifying Form AOC-4, as the attached financial statements and audit reports did not bear original signatures, only 'SD/-' markings.
Section 134(1) of the Companies Act, 2013, mandates that financial statements must be duly signed by authorised directors. Rule 8 of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, requires that scanned documents attached to e-forms must be copies of originally signed documents.
The auditor argued that there was no explicit statutory instruction to verify original signatures on uploaded copies, that the defect was curable, and that the omission was an oversight due to reliance on the MCA's instruction kit.
The ICAI Disciplinary Committee found the Chartered Accountant guilty of professional misconduct and ordered a reprimand.
The ruling serves as a reminder that certification of MCA forms carries statutory responsibility, due diligence includes verifying that scanned attachments bear actual signatures, and procedural lapses in electronic filings can lead to disciplinary action.
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