NFRA slaps Rs 2 crore fine on Deloitte Haskins for lapses in ZEEL audit

The Bank appropriated the fixed deposit (FD) in July 2019 to settle loan amounts due from seven promoter group companies.
The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has penalized Deloitte Haskins & Sells with Rs 2 crore and fined two chartered accountants for lapses in the audit of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) during FY2018-19 and FY2019-20.
NFRA has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on CA A B Jani and has barred him for five years from being appointed as an auditor or internal auditor or from undertaking any audit in respect of financial statements or internal audit of the functions and activities of any company or corporate.
Besides imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh on CA Rakesh Sharma, the regulator has banned him for three years for being appointed as an auditor. Jani was the Engagement Partner (EP), and Sharma was the Engagement Quality Control Review (EQCR) for the audit of ZEEL from FY2019 to FY2020.
In September 2018, the NFRA said in a 30-page order that the Chairman of ZEEL, who is also the promoter of the Essel Group of Companies, issued a letter to Yes Bank committing ZEEL to a Rs 200 crore fixed deposit as a guarantee for the loans given by Yes Bank to the promoter group company Essel Green Mobility Ltd.



