Satyam TDS certificates are genuine, banks tell govt

Both private and state-owned banks have told the government that tax deduction at source (TDS) certificates issued to Satyam by them between 2001-02 and 2006-07 were genuine.

According to Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta, TDS certificates of Hyderabad-based IT company for 2001-02 and 2006-07 were taken from various banks and verified. "The verification confirmed that these certificates were genuine," said Gupta.

These banks include Citibank, Hongkong Bank, the Secunderabad branch of Bank of Baroda, BNP Paribas, ICICI Bank, HDFC and the Bank of Nova Scotia. Gupta made this statement while replying to questions in Rajya Sabha.

However, for the latest two financial years — FY08 and FY09, P C Gupta said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office and other investigating agencies such as the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Income-Tax department, the Registrar of Companies and the Enforcement Directorate have seized documents and are looking into them.

On being asked if the government was planning any action against audit firm Price Waterhouse, which was the statutory auditor for Satyam, Gupta said that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) regulated audit firms in India. Since the partners were Indians, it was for the ICAI to take action, he added.

Incidentally, there are seven partnership firms registered in different parts of the country in the name of Pricewaterhouse. These are Pricewaterhouse, Pricewaterhouse and Co, PriceWaterhouse, PriceWaterhouse and Co, Pricewaterhouse Bangalore among others.

Gupta reiterated that the government was concerned about the 53,000 employees and 3,00,000 shareholders of Satyam, which has operations in 66 countries with over 150 Fortune 500 companies as its customers.