The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has sent a letter to two company secretaries of Satyam seeking explanation on their role in the issues raised by the government in the Satyam case.
They are G Jayaraman, global head of corporate governance of Satyam and Savita Jyoti, practising company secretary of Satyam. The concerned persons are known to have carried out part of the certification process for Satyam but are not responsible for certification of clause 49, which was carried out by the statutory auditors. The Clause 49 of the listing agreement is the certification on compliance of various requirements of corporate governance.
The ICSI has asked both the company secretaries to give their detailed comments about the various issues raised by the government and what was their role in the whole process. The two company secretaries are expected to send in their replies shortly, according to ICSI.
The ICSI president, Datla Hanumanta Raju told FE that ICSI would immediately look into the matter with regard to the corporate governance process in the company, lapse if any by the company secretaries involved and would submit its recommendations based on facts to the ministry of corporate affairs as early as possible.
NK Jain, CEO and secretary, ICSI said, ?We need to identify the role of company secretaries (CS) in this scandal and build an adequate framework in place to prevent re-occurrence of such episodes in future and to further strengthen the existing framework?.
Moving ahead in the investigation process, the ministry of corporate affairs had roped in ICSI to examine Satyam issues related to corporate governance and make recommendations.
In a letter to the ICSI, the ministry of corporate affairs had said that what happened in Satyam has highlighted the issue of vulnerability of the shareholders, investors and other stakeholders of the company to adverse consequences arising on account of lapses on the part of the management and the professionals such as company secretaries in ensuring proper compliance with good corporate governance. It is imperative that the company secretaries entrusted with specific role and duties under the law are effectively regulated and are held accountable for their actions in discharge of their statutory functions.