Commentary Part 16: Audit Chapter 4: Removal, Resignation, Etc of Auditors Section 518: Rights of resigning auditor
790.This section restates the right of an auditor who resigns to require the directors to convene a general meeting of the company so that it can consider his explanation of the circumstances that led to his decision to resign. The auditor can ask the company to send out a written explanation either in advance of that meeting if he has requested one, or before the next appropriate general meeting. The directors have 21 days to send out a notice convening a meeting once a resigning auditor has asked for it, and it must then be held within 28 days of the notice.
791.Subsection (9) provides protection if the resigning auditor is using the provision to have a statement circulated to secure needless publicity for defamatory material. It enables the company, or anyone else who is aggrieved by the statement, to apply to the court, and the court can then determine whether the auditor is using the provision in that way, in which case the company is not obliged to circulate the statement. The court can order the auditor to pay some or all of the costs of the proceedings.