Objectivity is essential for any Secretarial Auditor in exercising professional judgement during the audit. In light of above statement, explain the term objectivity and various threats to Auditor's Objectivity in detail

The Auditor must remain objective throughout the whole audit process, such that his integrity must not allow any malpractice in the audit process. Objectivity is essential for any professional person exercising professional judgment. Objectivity is the state of mind which has regard to all considerations relevant to the task in hand. It is sometimes described as 'Independence of Mind'. The need for objectivity is particularly evident in the case of the Auditor for carrying out an audit or some other reporting roles where their professional opinions can affect rights between parties and the decisions they take. Threats to objectivity can arise in a number of ways, some general in nature and some related to the specific circumstances of an assignment or role. Auditor should identify the threats and consider them in the light of the environment in which he is working; he should also take into account the safeguards which assist them to withstand threats and risks to their objectivity. The easiest way of avoiding such threats would be for Auditor to decline to act in any circumstance where the slightest threat to objectivity might exist. Threats to objectivity might include the following: Self-interest threat: A threat to the Auditor's objectivity stemming from a financial or other self-interest conflict. This could arise, for example, from a direct or indirect interest in Auditee or from a fear of losing an audit work. Self-review threat: The apparent difficulty of maintaining objectivity and conducting what is effectively a self-review, if any product or judgement of a previous audit assignment or a non-audit assignment needs to be challenged or re-evaluated in reaching audit conclusions. Advocacy threat: There is an apparent threat to the Auditor's objectivity, if he becomes an advocate for (or against) the Auditee's position in any adversarial proceedings or situations. Whenever the Auditor takes a strongly proactive stance on the Auditee's behalf, this may appear to be incompatible with the special objectivity that audit requires. Familiarity or trust threat: A threat that the Auditor may become over-influenced by the personality and qualities of the Directors and Management, and consequently too sympathetic to their interest. Intimidation threat: The possibility that the Auditor may become intimidated by threat, by dominating personality, or by other pressures, actual or feared, by a director or manager or by some other party.