Published Online:April 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJARAP120226
DOI:10.71329/IUPJARAP/2026.25.2.266-276
Author Name:Peeyush Sharma
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Finance
Download Format:PDF
Pages:266-276
The paper traces the institutionalization of forensic auditing in India and develops a practicable framework for assessing the legal resilience of investigative findings. Building on regulatory and judicial developments over the years, the study examines how professional standards and evidentiary law have reshaped investigative practice and shifted the auditor’s remit from purely accounting assurance to quasi-judicial expert testimony. It argues that the contemporary measure of forensic success is not simply the magnitude of fraud uncovered but the judicial survivability of evidence—its ability to withstand procedural and evidentiary challenge in tribunals and courts. Using a qualitative, case-based regulatory impact analysis (RIA), the study synthesizes statutory instruments and professional standards with doctrinal developments. It systematically reviews primary instruments—most notably the role of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)’s 2023 forensic standards—and situates them alongside landmark events and institutional responses such as the Satyam Computer Services accounting scandal and the Harshad Mehta securities scam. The study also examines the constitutional overlay introduced by recent jurisprudence exemplified by SBI vs. Rajesh Agarwal
The persistence of high-profile corporate scams, like Satyam Computer Services Accounting Scandal (2009), highlights a critical “expectation gap” between the perceived and actual role of auditors. While statutory auditing provides assurance on the “true and fair” view of financial statements under Standards on Auditing (SA), forensic auditing has emerged as a specialized discipline to establish legally defensible proof of financial misconduct.