‘Vested interests?’ India’s top CA body’s silence over Anna Sebastian’s death raises eyebrows

Two months, two young lives lost. In August, a young medic from Kolkata was brutally raped and murdered, her death exposing the deep cracks in our society. Even when the shock hadn't faded, we came to know about the unfortunate demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a bright Chartered Accountant from Kerala. Both tragedies remind us, painfully, of how broken and fragile our society truly is.

CA Anna allegedly died of overwork while working at Ernst & Young, one of the Big 4accounting firms that claims to be “building a better working world” (strictly no pun intended). Anna joined EY India’s audit and assurance team in March this year and died just four months later.

Following her death, Anna’s mother, Anita Augustine, in a letter called out EY for overwhelming work stress and claimed nobody from the company bothered to attend her funeral.

Toxic work culture at EY

As serious allegations against the audit major surfaced in the media, EY India chairman, Rajiv Memani, was quick to declare them exaggerated. “We have around one lakh employees. While each one must work hard, we don’t believe that work pressure could have claimed her life,” he stressed.

WION reached out to several Chartered Accountants to better understand the working conditions at the Big 4s.

CA Chirag Chauhan, founder of CA Chauhan & Co and an ex-consultant with Deloitte, said that work pressure at EY is extreme. “There is always work pressure, not everyone is able to cope with it,” he told WION.

Chauhan recalls days when he would plan to go and chill out on Saturday evenings with his friend from EY, who would always say, “Arey main to abhi bhi kaam kar raha hoon” (I’m still working).

“I would sometimes invite him over to my place, but he would always refuse, saying he had to file some assignments by 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning.”

When asked if EY was the worst of all Big 4s, Chauhan said, with a grin, “Kind of!”

He addedthat people at EY are expected to work even during flights to meet stringent deadlines.

“The work pressure is crazy,” he said, adding, even when Indian CAs are poorly compensated when compared with their Western peers.

“They are paying us 1/5th or 1/10th of salary and making us work twice, that too in very inhumane conditions.”

He said EY is now taking just cosmetic steps for headline management after the mother’s letter went viral.

“I was shocked to learn that the matter is not recent and CA Anna died in July. No one would ever know about this had the letter not beenleaked. EY would have just forgotten it. No one from the company went to her funeral.”

Indian CAs: Orphans with parents

CA Anna’s death has reignited the debate over working conditions in India. The Indian government has launched a probe. The Indian finance minister has suggested stress management lessons to educational bodies and professionals. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a detailed response from the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. But guess who is maintaining a deafening silence? It is thebody which is often referred toas the mother of all CAs in India: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

ICAI, whose motto says ‘the one who is awakened’, has been sleeping like a log over the matter, something which has not gone down well with the CA fraternity.

CA Anshul Kumar Singhal, who is a partner at Lalit Vanjani and Co., and has previously worked in Big 4firms, told WION, “At least there should have been an official statement from ICAI about what has happened to her (Anna), due to work pressure. They should have enquired about the work circumstances involved in the audit project in which Anna was involved, and see if any corrective actions are required.”

“They should be concerned about the well-being of the CAs. They are our mother body,” he added.

Singhal also urged the ICAI to set up a helpline for professionals and students where they can seek counselling for psychological problems.

“A helpline should be set up by ICAI to support its members and students for raising issues such as these, as the internal helplines of organisation may not be used by the employees due to fear of internal repercussions,” he said.

CA Chirag Chauhan also agreed that ICAI should have taken suo motu action in the matter and initiated an enquiry at its own level.

“She (Anna) was a fellow member, who will protect us if not ICAI?”

Is ICAI hand-in-glove with Big 4s?

One senior CA professional, on condition of anonymity, told WION that the Central Council Members (CCM) at the ICAI don’t want to escalate the matter because of vested interests.

“What if I tell you that some council members are also linked with EY,” the CA said.

“Big 4s are big players. CCMs have acted in the past to protect them in good manner.”

WION reached out to ICAI central council member Rohit Ruwatia Agarwal to discuss the allegations, but he refused to issue any statement.

“Presently our election code of conduct is going on, so we can’t come over media,” he said in a written response.

ICAI’s response

ICAI, in a statement to WION, said they are ‘saddened’ by the demise of CA Anna but refused to provide details on what steps they can take to prevent such tragedies in future.

“We at ICAI are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of our esteemed member. In this moment of grief, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during thisdifficulttime,” the statement read.

ICAI also refused to comment on allegations linking CCM members to Big 4 firms.

‘Boycotting elections’

Chirag Mapu, a young CA professional, upset with the CCM’s silence over the issue, is now campaigning on social media to boycott the upcoming council elections.

“There is no official statement from ICAI about the death of a member. Then what is the use of voting when they can't speak for us,” Chirag told WION.

“That's why I'm boycotting upcoming council election.”