ORDER

1. This petition is filed under Section 140(5) of the Companies Act, 2013 by the Union of India, Ministry of Corporate Affairs through Registrar of Company, Pune against the Respondent No.1, Mr. Dattatray Maruti Khune seeking following reliefs:

a) Direct that the Respondent No.1 shall immediately cease to function as statutory auditor of Respondent No.2 Company.

b) Direct that the Respondent No.1 and his proprietorship firm shall not be eligible to be appointed as an auditor of any company for a period of 5 years from the date of passing of order, in terms of second proviso to Section 140(5) of the Companies Act, 2013, read with Explanation I thereto.

c) Pass any other order(s) as deemed fit and proper under the circumstances by the Hon’ble Tribunal.

2. Brief Facts

2.1. That, Mr. Dattatray Maruti Khune i.e. Respondent No.1 is a Chartered Accountant in terms of Section 2(1)(b) of the The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the Proprietor of D.M. Khune & Co., & was appointed as the Statutory Auditor of M/s Networth Agrotech India Limited (Respondent No. 2), a public limited company incorporated on 01.06.2011 under the Companies Act, 1956 and having registered office at Pune. The Respondent No.1 submitted audit report to the financial statements of the Respondent no. 2 for the financial years 2012-2013, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016- 2017. It is stated that, no requisite form was filed with RoC Pune for appointment of the auditor, neither by the Company nor by the auditor.

2.2. On the basis of a complaint received from Mr. Sachin Rasal and other investors alleging, inter alia, fraudulent activities of the Company, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide letter No. 815/2016/CL-II (WR) dated 08.07.2016 ordered an inspection in the affairs of Respondent No. 2 under Section 206(5) read with Section 207 of the Companies Act, 2013. Pursuant thereto, the inspection was duly carried out and the Inspecting Officer submitted his Inspection Report dated 23.03.2017, which was thereafter placed before the Regional Director (Western Region), Mumbai, and duly forwarded to the Ministry.

2.3. The ministry vide letter No. 1/29/2017- CL-II (WR) dated 08.05.2017 directed the petitioner to re-examine non-fulfillment of duties by the auditor and to submit a supplementary report. Accordingly, the Supplementary Inspection Report dated 25.01.2019 was submitted by the Inspecting Officer ("IO"). During the course of the supplementary inspection, the IO re-examined the matter in detail and observed from the MCA portal that the Company had filed the financial statements of the Respondent no. 2 for the financial years 2012-2013, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-2017 (bearing the signatures of Respondent Statutory Auditor as well as one director of Respondent Company) (hereinafter 1^st Set") on 30.04.2018, i.e. subsequent to the submission of the Inspection Report by the then IO, Dr. Amol Shinde, the then Deputy Registrar of Companies, Pune, however the said financial statements didn’t contain the Auditor’s Report thereon and the notes to accounts forming part of such financial statements. Upon examination, the first set of financial statements of the Respondent no. 2 for the financial years 2012-2013, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-2017, so filed, were found to be forged and fabricated. The IO accordingly decided to summon the Directors of the Company as well as the Statutory Auditor who had signed the Balance Sheets, for the purpose of verifying the facts.

2.4. Pursuant thereto, the first auditor of the Company, Mr. Sagar Dharmavat, appeared before the IO on 08.10.2018 in response to a summons issued on 03.10.2018 and recorded his statement. The Directors of the Company, namely, Mr. Machindra Baban Mundhe, Mr. Ram Devidas Aute, Mr. Vikas Bhaurao Falake, Mr. Umrao Vasantrao Gilbile, Mr. Ram Babanrao Zodage, and Mr. Buvasaheb Janu Bochare, also appeared before the IO on various dates and recorded their statements on oath. The Directors further furnished