The government today said the decision on awarding punishment to ex-Pricewaterhouse partner S Gopalakrishnan and V S Prabhakar Gupta, former internal audit head, involved in the accounting fraud at Satyam Computer, is likely to be taken up by accounting regulator ICAI at its next meeting.

"The decision on awarding punishment to S Gopalakrishnan and V S Prabhakar Gupta is likely to be taken by the Disciplinary Committee of the ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) at its next meeting," Minister of State for Corporate Affairs R P N Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

He added that earlier this year, the names of ex-CFO of the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, Srinivas Talluri, and two Lovelocke & Lewes auditors Pulavarthi Siva Prasad and Chintapatla Ravindernath have been removed from the Register of Members by the ICAI and a fine of Rs 5 lakh each has been imposed on all of them.

The audit of Satyam was appointed in the name of Price Waterhouse, Bangalore.

A massive accounting fraud of over Rs 14,000 crore in IT company Satyam Computer came to light in January, 2009, after its Founder B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging the account books for many years.

Replying to another query, Singh said that no CA firm, whether Indian or foreign, can operate in the area of audit or assurance services in the country without being registered with the ICAI.

However, he added that "it is possible that several multinational accounting firms may be operating in the country in the fields of audit/assurance services through Indian audit firms/memebers who are registered with the ICAI".