Can a Company Secretary be appointed as an Internal Auditor of the Company? Explain the role of Internal Auditor.

The provisions of Companies Act, 2013 provides that an internal auditor appointed under section 138 shall either be a Chartered Accountant or a Cost Accountant, or such other professional (including Company Secretaries) as may be decided by the board to conduct internal audit of the functions and activities of the company. Thus, a Company Secretary can be appointed as an Internal Auditor of a Company. The internal auditor should focus towards improving the internal control structure and promoting better corporate governance. The role of the internal auditor encompasses: Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of controls; Recommending new controls where needed or unnecessary controls discontinuing; Using control frameworks; Developing controlled self-assessment techniques.