A formal announcement of Deloitte Haskins’ resignation is expected soon, the person said, declining to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

“Deloitte Haskins sought some information and clarification. There seems to be a difference of opinion with the company’s top management about certain transactions,” the person said.

The resignation comes just days before the much-anticipated probe report on the Adani Group by the Indian market regulator.

The Supreme Court directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to submit its investigation report on Adani Group’s market transactions involving 13 suspicious foreign portfolio investors by 14 August.

Emailed queries to spokespeople for Deloitte and Adani Group did not elicit any response.

Deloitte Haskins, which has been auditing Adani Ports since FY18 and was reappointed as the statutory auditor for a five-year period last year, mentioned in the company’s FY23 financial results that “there were financing transactions (including equity) with/by certain other parties identified in the allegations made in the short-seller report, which the group has represented to us were not related parties.”

On 24 January, US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged that the Gautam Adani-led group executed the “largest con in corporate history,” triggering a collapse in Adani group stocks, resulting in a market value loss of over $150 billion and removing Gautam Adani from the top 10 ranking of the global rich list.

During the June quarter, Adani Ports re-negotiated the terms of sale of its container terminal under construction in Myanmar with Solar Energy Ltd, which resulted in an impairment loss of ₹1,273.38 crore. “The (Adani) group did not consider it necessary to have an independent external examination of these allegations (made by Hindenburg) because of their evaluation and the ongoing investigation by the Sebi,” Deloitte said.

This is the third change in auditors for Adani Group companies over the past few months. In May 2023, Shah Dhandharia & Co. LLP stepped down from their role as the auditor of Adani Total Gas. It was replaced by Walker Chandiok & Co. LLP.

In an exchange filing on 8 August, Deloitte brought attention to specific matters within the auditor review report included in the June quarterly earnings statement of Adani Ports.

Deloitte reviewed Adani Ports’ interim financials as the “independent auditor” for the June quarter.

Such a review is substantially less in scope than an actual audit, and therefore, it does not enable the auditor to obtain assurance that it would be aware of all significant matters.

In the review report on Adani Ports, Deloitte mentioned a net balance of ₹3,871 crore recoverable from a contractor that provided EPC services, which the company believed was not a related party.

“However, the contractor was identified as a related party in a short seller (Hindenburg Research) report published in January 2023. The net balance with the contractor increased by ₹122 crore on a sequential basis in the June 2023 quarter,” Deloitte said.

On Friday, shares of Adani Ports fell 0.28% to ₹ 800.65 on BSE.

Updated: 11 Aug 2023, 11:48 PM IST