Parliament to call RBI again for Satyam briefing

Having questioned the RBI for about two hours on the Satyam fraud issue, a Parliamentary panel has decided to call apex bank representatives again on February 4 along with three other government agencies, including Sebi, for a second round of quizzing.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Ananth Kumar, today met for the first time since the Rs 7,800-crore Satyam fraud came to light and had lined up for questioning the RBI, Sebi, the Corporate Affairs Ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The meeting, which started with the questioning of the RBI and which was represented by Governor D Subbarao and deputy Governor Usha Thorat, remained inconclusive. According to sources, the RBI was quizzed over its clearance to the now controversial audit firm Price Waterhouse (PW), the auditors of scam-tainted Satyam.

The RBI had earlier banned PW for three years in 2003 from auditing accounts of banks following its involvement in some irregularities concerning Global Trust Bank.

Subbarao is understood to told the panel the suspension cannot be indefinite and was lifted after three years.
    
The RBI was also questioned about lack of coordination among the regulatory agencies and its failure to take timely action to prevent a crisis of this magnitude. The Governor's reply that it is swinging into action did not satisfy the members, sources said.
    
Among others, Sebi Chairman C B Bhave, Corporate Affairs Secretary Anurag Goel and representatives from the CBDT including income tax officials from Hyderabad were present but could not be called for questioning as the meeting was adjourned till next week.