Price Waterhouse has moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order which has barred it from taking up audit of listed companies for a period of two years.

Beside PW, Sebi has also barred two of its partners for a period of three years. These entities have been charged under Sebi's prohibition of fraudulent and unfair trade practice (FUTP) rules, in connection with the Satyam Computer scam.

Counsels Janak Dwarkadas and Somasekhar Sundereshan appeared before SAT on Wednesday on behalf of PW, seeking an urgent hearing. Zerick Dastur is legal advisor for PW.

The appellate tribunal is likely to hear the matter on Friday.

On January 10, the regulator had ordered 'disgorgement' of Rs 130.9 million on PW and two of its chartered accountants, S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri. The three entities were asked to pay 12 per cent interest on the disgorgement amount since January 7, 2009, in 45 days from the date of the order.

Sebi also directed that no listed company or intermediary registered with it shall engage any audit firm associated with the PW network for issuing any certificate on compliance with the statutory obligations Sebi is competent to administer and enforce, under various laws, for a period of two years.

The case dates back to 2009, when the chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Ramalinga Raju, confessed to large-scale financial manipulations in Satyam's book of accounts, to the tune of Rs 50.4 billion. Sebi issued showcause notices to PW and its associates in February 2009. Further notices were issued to PW in 2012 under the FUTP regulations.

According to Sebi, the objective of insulating the securities market from such fraudulent accounting practices perpetrated by an international firm of repute will be ineffective if the directions do not bring within its sweep the PW brand name. #casansaar (Source - Business Standard)