Thanks to the timely intervention of the Madras high court, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) management circulated an internal audit report, highlighting several irregularities, to all members during a general body meeting here on September 30.

The meeting, however, was over in a matter of few minutes without much discussion on the report.

Justice S Rajeswaran had issued the interim direction recently on a civil suit jointly filed by Bejoy P Mathew of Besant Nagar and Rajeev George of Kilpauk.

In their affidavit, Mathew and George had stated that a statutory auditor had issued a clean chit to the YMCA management over its activities during the financial years 2007-08 and 2008-09. However, an internal audit that reviewed the affairs, submitted a damning report highlighting several omissions and commissions on the part of those in-charge of the day-to-day administration of YMCA, they said.

Though the report was submitted on February 27, well before the financial year-end, it was forwarded to the YMCA Trust only in August.

With an annual general body meeting already scheduled to be held on September 30, the two applicants approached the Madras high court with a plea that the YMCA be directed to circulate the report to all the members before the meeting.

The internal audit report, according to them, highlighted certain anomalies in the accounts and misuse of YMCA funds. Contracts running to crores of rupees were awarded to contractors without written agreements, it said, adding that acceptance and repayment of cash loans happened without the board's approval. Books of accounts did not match with financial statements, and interest on loans was paid without the board's nod, it alleged.

Noting that the 120-year-old charitable institution must ensure that its funds were not misused and its original social role was maintained, the applicants said a true and actual statement of affairs regarding the accounts and assets owned by the trust must be brought out.

Justice Rajeswaran, holding that no prejudice would be caused to anyone if the internal auditor report is circulated to all the members before the general body meeting, asked the YMCA to circulate the report to members at the meeting "so that they will be apprised of the internal auditor report."