Question

A company auditor is authorized to visit branches of the company under section

Answer 1

Where a company has a branch office, the accounts of that office shall be audited by the company's auditor appointed under section 224 or by a person qualified for appointment as auditor of the company under section 226, or where the branch office is situate in a country outside India, either by the company's auditor or a person qualified as aforesaid or by an accountant duly qualified to act as an auditor of the accounts of the branch office in accordance with the laws of that country.

(2) Where the accounts of any branch office are audited by a person other than the company's auditor the company's auditor:

(a) shall be entitled to visit the branch office, if he deems it necessary to do so for the performance of his duties as auditor, and

(b) shall have a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of the company maintained at the branch office:

Provided that in the case of a banking company having a branch office outside India, it shall be sufficient if the auditor is allowed access to such copies of, and extracts from, the books and accounts of the branch as have been transmitted to the principle office of the company in India.