“Our resignation does not result from an inability to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence,” Shah Dhandharia’s resignation letter said The auditor named in the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group, Shah Dhandharia & Co, has resigned as the statutory auditor of Adani Total Gas citing professional pre-occupation as the reason. The resignation came under a year since it was appointed by the company on July 26, 2022 for a term of 5 years. Shah Dhandharia & Co is also the auditor of the flagship company of the group, Adani Enterprises.
“Our resignation does not result from an inability to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence” Shah Dhandharia’s resignation letter said. “There are no other circumstance connected with our resignation which we consider should be brought to the notice of the board.”
US based short-seller Hindenburg Research published a report on January 24, accusing Adani Group of accounting frauds alongside market manipulation and high levels of insecure debt. It pointed out a “key accounting red flag” used by the company and named the use of auditor Shah Dhandharia & Co as being one such malpractice followed by the company. It alleged that the accounting firm just had 4 partners and 11 employees. Some employees were as young as 23-24 years of age, while the partner who signed off on the company’s financials were 28. The 4 partners in Shah Dhandharia & Co are - CA Pravin Dhandharia (46), CA Harshil Shah (27), CA Shubham Rohatgi (28) and CA Ankit Ajmera (28).
The auditor that will be replace Shah Dhandharia & Co is Walter Chandiok & Co.
It is still not clear whether Shah Dhandharia will continue as an auditor of the Adani Enterprises. The board of directors of the group’s main company will meet on May 4 for the finalization of its financial results.