Manpasand Beverages’ Auditor Batliboi & Purohit Resigns Citing Lack Of Cooperation

Batliboi & Purohit resigned as statutory auditor to Manpasand Beverages Ltd., citing its inability to audit because of lack of cooperation from the maker of MangoSip juice.

“The firm has considered recent developments of an ongoing litigation among the board of directors and subsequent resignation of the directors along with the company secretary. Also, our audit team members were not allowed to enter the Vadodara factory for conducting the statutory audit,” according to the auditor’s resignation letter uploaded by Manpasand Beverages on the bourses.

It’s the third Manpasand Beverages auditor to step down since May 2018. Batliboi & Purohit, which was appointed after Mehra Goel & Co. quit as auditor on Aug. 2, found several discrepancies in Manpasand Beverages’ financial statements related to sales, purchases, expenses, goods and services tax returns, debtors and creditor accounts, among others. In May 2018, Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned stating that the company wasn’t sharing “significant information”.

Manpasand Beverages’ stock has declined nearly 94 percent in the last 12 months as the company remains embroiled in the eye of a storm—its previous auditor suspected fraud, multiple resignations by auditors and independent directors, a warning from the market regulator, arrest of its promoter and chief financial officer in a tax case and an ongoing boardroom drama.