The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has ordered the removal of Harsh Vardhan Lodha and Aditya Lodha from the member-rolls of the institute for three months on grounds of professional misconduct.

The two are senior partners of chartered accountant firm Lodha & Co. Harsh Vardhan Lodha is the chairman of Birla Corporation, an MP Birla Group company.

In a communication dated November 6, Vandana D. Nagpal, Director (Discipline) of ICAI, said the council of the institute had ordered that Lodhas' punishment would run independent of the recommendation made earlier to the High Court for misconduct. They are now not permitted to proclaim themselves as chartered accountants during the period of punishment, and cannot carry on their practice as chartered accountants during the period.

SEVERAL MALPRACTICES

The indictment follows complaints from ICAI members Om Prakash Agarwal, Sashi Agarwal and Suresh Kumar Sharma.

The complainants had alleged that Lodha & Co had indulged in several malpractices, including furnishing of false information to the institute, CAG and the RBI on the number of partners. They also alleged that the firm had discharged their duty as statutory auditors despite conflict of interest.

Lodha & Co was the statutory auditor of Birla Ericsson Optical Ltd at the time when late R.S. Lodha and Harsh Lodha were on the boards of its promoter companies Universal Cables Ltd and Vindhya Telelinks Ltd. (The Hindu)