NFRA gets thumbs up from SC on retrospective jurisdiction
New Delhi: The question of the National Financial Reporting Authority's (NFRA's) investigative powers over statutory audits of businesses done prior to the watchdog's creation in 2018 is finally getting settled.
The Supreme Court in March and then in May dismissed two appeals against a tribunal order that upheld the audit watchdog’s retrospective powers over audits, showed court orders seen by Mint.
According to an assessment by the NFRA, this development has reinforced the watchdog’s jurisdiction including for the period before its creation in October 2018, a person with knowledge of the regulator’s view said.
This assessment is based on a fundamental principle of law called the ‘doctrine of merger,’ which implies that only one operative order can govern a particular subject matter at any given time.
