Section 73 - Powers and duties of auditors. - Multi-State Co-Operative Societies Act, 2002

Powers and duties of auditors. 73. (1) Every auditor of a multi‑State co‑operative society shall have a right of access at all times to the books, accounts and vouchers of the multi‑State co‑operative society, whether kept at the head office of the multi‑State co‑operative society or elsewhere, and shall be entitled to require from the officers or other employees of the multi‑State co‑operative society such information and explanations as the auditor may think necessary for the performance of his duties as an auditor. (2) Without prejudice to provisions of sub‑section (1), the auditor shall inquire, ( a ) whether loans and advances made by the multi‑State co‑operative society on the basis of security have been properly secured and whether the terms on which they have been made are not prejudicial to the interests of the multi‑State co‑operative society or its members; ( b ) whether transactions of the multi‑State co‑operative society which are represented merely by book entries are not prejudicial to the interests of the multi‑State co‑operative society; ( c ) whether personal expenses have been charged to revenue account; and ( d ) where it is stated in the books and papers of the multi‑State co‑operative society that any shares have been allotted for cash, whether cash has actually been received in respect of such allotment, and if no cash has actually been so received, whether the position as stated in the account books and the balance‑sheet is correct, regular and not misleading. (3) The auditor shall make a report to the members of the multi‑State co‑operative society on the accounts examined by him and on every balance‑sheet and profit and loss account and on every other document required to be part of or annexed to the balance‑sheet or profit and loss account, which are laid before the multi‑State co‑operative society in general meeting during his tenure of office, and the report shall state whether, in his opinion and to the best of his information and according to the explanations given to him, the said accounts give the information required by this Act in the manner so required and give a true and fair view, ( a ) in the case of the balance‑sheet, of the state of the multi‑State co‑operative society s affairs as at the end of its financial year; and ( b ) in the case of the profit and loss account, of the profit or loss for its financial year. (4) The auditors report shall also state ( a ) whether he has obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of his knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of his audit; ( b ) whether, in his opinion, proper books of account have been kept by the multi‑State co‑operative society so far as appears from his examination of those books, and proper returns adequate for the purposes of his audit have been received from branches or offices of the multi‑State co‑operative society not visited by him; ( c ) whether the report on the accounts of any branch office audited by a person other than the multi‑State co‑operative society s auditor has been forwarded to him and how he has dealt with the same in preparing the auditor s report; ( d ) whether the multi‑State co‑operative society s balance‑sheet and profit and loss account dealt with by the report are in agreement with the books of account and returns. (5) Where any of the matters referred to in clauses ( a ) and ( b ) of sub‑section (3) or in clauses ( a ), ( b ), ( c ) and ( d ) of sub‑section (4) is answered in the negative or with a qualification, the auditor s report shall state the reason for the answer. 1 [ (6) the multi-State co-operative society or class of multi-State co-operative societies, as the case may be, shall adopt such standards of auditing and accounting as may be determined by the Central Government: Provided that until such standards of auditing and accounting are specified, the auditing and accounting standards specified by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India constituted by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) shall be deemed to be the standards of auditing and accounting: Provided further that the multi-State co-operative banks shall adopt the standards of accounting and auditing, if any, laid down by the Reserve Bank. ] **************** NOTES:- 1. Inserted vide THE MULTI-STATE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2023 dated 03-08-2023