Ambika bhardwaj
Published On: January 23, 2022 at 13:25 IST
The Delhi High Court in the Case of Mohit Bansal v Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Anr ordered the creation of a policy and a framework for Chartered Accountants to reveal Criminal Cases or Convictions against them on a periodic basis.
Justice Pratibha M Singh stated that such a policy is required and further asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to not remain unaware about the Criminal Proceedings against the members who are enrolled with them.
The Court was reviewing a Petition lodged by a Chartered Accountant (CA), Mohit Bansal, questioning a Show-Cause notice issued to him under Section 8(v) of the Chartered Accountants Act. The notice was issued to him in relation to his conviction for assaulting a woman in 2001.
Section 8(v) is concerned with ‘Moral Turpitude’ and states that if a person is convicted of such an act, their name may be barred from being entered or borne in the ICAI register.
It was observed that he was initially convicted of Gang Rape but the High Court reduced it to Assault in February 2010.
However, the ICAI was unaware of this fact for many years, and a Show-Cause notice was only released in June 2018, permitting him to continue his practise for over a decade.
According to Justice Singh, there are some professions and services that require a very high degree of integrity and are regarded ‘noble,’ and being a CA fits into that category. As a result, the Show-Cause notice was upheld by the Court, noting that the Petitioner’s Case falls under Section 8(v) of the CA Act.
The Petitioner showed up in-person whereas the Respondents were represented by Senior Advocate Ramji Srinivasan and Advocates Pooja Saigal, Simrat S Pasay, Chaitanya Pandey, Farman Ali, and Athar Raza Farooquei.
Also read: Joshi John vs ICAI – New development in CA’s Right to Practice