# Auditor's Attendance at General Meetings
## The Core Rule
The auditor of a company has a mandatory duty to attend every general meeting. This is not an option — it is a statutory obligation.
## Two Ways to Attend
The auditor can fulfil this duty in one of two ways:
1. Personally — attending the meeting himself.
2. Through an authorized representative — but that representative must himself be qualified to be an auditor (i.e., a Chartered Accountant in practice).
## Exemption
The company can exempt the auditor from attending. If the company specifically exempts him, he need not attend.
## Right to be Heard
During the meeting, the auditor has the right to be heard — but only on that part of the business of the meeting which concerns him as auditor.
Example: He can speak when his audit report is being discussed, but he cannot speak about, say, a proposed merger that has no audit angle.
## Why this matters
This ensures that members can directly question the auditor about qualifications, observations or adverse remarks in his report, and the auditor cannot hide behind absence.