The accounts of six corporate entities that are part of the Adani Group have been qualified by their auditors in the wake of the Supreme Court’s examination of the allegations made in the January report of US-based Hindenburg Research. Among the auditors that qualified the accounts of group companies is a small firm based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, named Shah Dhandaria & Company LLP (limited liability partnership) that recently resigned as a statutory auditor of Adani Total Gas, even as it continues to be one of the 40 auditors of the group flagship Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).
Hindenburg claimed that Shah Dhandharia was ‘a tiny firm’ that ‘hardly seems capable of complex audit work’ on some of India’s biggest companies.
In an exclusive interview with AdaniWatch, Shubham Rohatgi, the 29-year-old partner of Shah Dhandharia argued that there was nothing untoward or illegal about a small firm auditing the accounts of a large corporate entity such as AEL with over 200 subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate firms. In a recorded video interview with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta lasting approximately 42 minutes, he said that Shah Dhandaria had adhered to all relevant laws, rules and regulations. He also explained the circumstances that led to his firm resigning as statutory auditor of Adani Total Gas, and responded to questions about Dharmesh Parikh, Milestone Tradelinks, and commentary by other players in the Indian finance sector.
The interview in full is in the video below:
