Chartered Accountants Act, 1949- Chapter V- Misconduct

[i][Chapter V

Misconduct

21. Disciplinary Directorate.

[ii][21. Disciplinary Directorate.—(1) The Council shall, by notification, establish a Disciplinary Directorate headed by an officer of the Institute designated as Director (Discipline) and such other employees for making investigations in respect of any information or complaint received by it.

(2) On receipt of any information or complaint along with the prescribed fee, the Director (Discipline) shall arrive at a prima facie opinion on the occurrence of the alleged misconduct.

(3) Where the Director (Discipline) is of the opinion that a member is guilty of any professional or other misconduct mentioned in the First Schedule, he shall place the matter before the Board of Discipline and where the Director (Discipline) is of the opinion that a member is guilty of any professional or other misconduct mentioned in the Second Schedule or in both the Schedules, he shall place the matter before the Disciplinary Committee.

(4) In order to make investigations under the provisions of this Act, the Disciplinary Directorate shall follow such procedure as may be specified.

(5) Where a complainant withdraws the complaint, the Director (Discipline) shall place such withdrawal before the Board of Discipline or, as the case may be, the Disciplinary Committee, and the said Board or Committee may, if it is of the view that the circumstances so warrant, permit the withdrawal at any stage.]

21-A. Board of Discipline.

[iii][21-A. Board of Discipline.—(1) The Council shall constitute a Board of Discipline consisting of—

(a) a person with experience in law and having knowledge of disciplinary matters and the profession, to be its presiding officer;

(b) two members one of whom shall be a member of the Council elected by the Council and the other member shall be nominated by the Central Government from amongst the persons of eminence having experience in the field of law, economics, business, finance or accountancy;

(c) the Director (Discipline) shall function as the Secretary of the Board.

(2) The Board of Discipline shall follow summary disposal procedure in dealing with all cases before it.

(3) Where the Board of Discipline is of the opinion that a member is guilty of a professional or other misconduct mentioned in the First Schedule, it shall afford to the member an opportunity of being heard before making any order against him and may thereafter take any one or more of the following actions, namely:—

(a) reprimand the member;

(b) remove the name of the member from the Register up to a period of three months;

(c) impose such fine as it may think fit, which may extend to Rupees One lakh.

(4) The Director (Discipline) shall submit before the Board of Discipline all information and complaints where he is of the opinion that there is no prima facie case and the Board of Discipline may, if it agrees with the opinion of the Director (Discipline), close the matter or in the case of disagreement, may advise the Director (Discipline) to further investigate the matter.]

21-B. Disciplinary Committee.

[iv][21-B. Disciplinary Committee.—(1) The Council shall constitute a Disciplinary Committee consisting of the President or the Vice-President of the Council as the Presiding Officer and two members to be elected from amongst the members of the Council and two members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst the persons of eminence having experience in the field of law, economics, business, finance or accountancy:

Provided that the Council may constitute more Disciplinary Committees as and when it considers necessary.

(2) The Disciplinary Committee, while considering the cases placed before it shall follow such procedure as may be specified.

(3) Where the Disciplinary Committee is of the opinion that a member is guilty of a professional or other misconduct mentioned in the Second Schedule or both the First Schedule and the Second Schedule, it shall afford to the member an opportunity of being heard before making any order against him and may thereafter take any one or more of the following actions, namely:—

(a) reprimand the member;

(b) remove the name of the member from the Register permanently or for such period, as it thinks fit;

(c) impose such fine as it may think fit, which may extend to Rupees Five lakhs.

(4) The allowances payable to the members nominated by the Central Government shall be such as may be specified.]

21-C. Authority, Disciplinary Committee, Board of Discipline and Director (Discipline) to have powers of civil court.

[v][21-C. Authority, Disciplinary Committee, Board of Discipline and Director (Discipline) to have powers of civil court.—For the purposes of an inquiry under the provisions of this Act, the Authority, the Disciplinary Committee, Board of Discipline and the Director (Discipline) shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:—

(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;

(b) the discovery and production of any document; and

(c) receiving evidence on affidavit.

Explanation.—For the purposes of Sections 21, 21-A, 21-B, 21-C and 22, “member of the Institute” includes a person who was a member of the Institute on the date of the alleged misconduct although he has ceased to be a member of the Institute at the time of the inquiry.]

21-D. Transitional provisions.

[vi][21-D. Transitional provisions.—All complaints pending before the Council or any inquiry initiated by the Disciplinary Committee or any reference or appeal made to a High Court prior to the commencement of the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006, shall continue to be governed by the provisions of this Act, as if this Act had not been amended by the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006.]

22. Professional or other misconduct defined.

[vii][22. Professional or other misconduct defined.—For the purposes of this Act, the expression “professional or other misconduct” shall be deemed to include any act or omission provided in any of the Schedules, but nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or abridge in any way the power conferred or duty cast on the Director (Discipline) under sub-section (1) of Section 21 to inquire into the conduct of any member of the Institute under any other circumstances.]

22-A. Constitution of Appellate Authority.

[viii][22-A. Constitution of Appellate Authority.—(1) The Central Government shall, by notification, constitute an Appellate Authority consisting of—

(a) a person who is or has been a Judge of a High Court, to be its Chairperson;

(b) two members to be appointed from amongst the persons who have been members of the Council for at least one full term and who is not a sitting member of the Council;

(c) two members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst persons having knowledge and practical experience in the field of law, economics, business, finance or accountancy.

(2) The Chairperson and other members shall be part-time members.]

22-B. Term of office of Chairperson and members of Authority.

[ix][22-B. Term of office of Chairperson and members of Authority.—(1) A person appointed as the Chairperson shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier.

(2) A person appointed as a member shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of sixty-two years, whichever is earlier.]

22-C. Allowances and conditions of service of Chairperson and members of Authority.

[x][22-C. Allowances and conditions of service of Chairperson and members of Authority.—The allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of service of, the Chairperson and members and the manner of meeting expenditure of the Authority by the Council and such other authorities shall be such as may be specified.]

22-D. Procedure to be regulated by Authority.

[xi][22-D. Procedure to be regulated by Authority.—(1) The office of the Authority shall be at Delhi.

(2) The Authority shall regulate its own procedure.

(3) All orders and decisions of the Authority shall be authenticated by an officer duly authorised by the Chairperson in this behalf.]

22-E. Officers and other staff of Authority.

[xii][22-E. Officers and other staff of Authority.—(1) The Council shall make available to the Authority such officers and other staff members as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the Authority.

(2) The salaries and allowances and conditions of service of the officers and other staff members of the Authority shall be such as may be prescribed.]

22-F. Resignation and removal of Chairperson and members.

[xiii][22-F. Resignation and removal of Chairperson and members.—(1) The Chairperson or a member may, by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Central Government, resign his office:

Provided that the Chairperson or a member shall, unless he is permitted by the Central Government to relinquish his office sooner, continue to hold office until the expiry of three months from the date of receipt of such notice or until a person duly appointed as his successor enters upon his office or until the expiry of term of office, whichever is earlier.

(2) The Chairperson or a member shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the Central Government on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after an inquiry made by such person as the Central Government may appoint for this purpose in which the Chairperson or a member concerned has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of such charges.]

22-G. Appeal to Authority.

[xiv][22-G. Appeal to Authority.—(1) Any member of the Institute aggrieved by any order of the Board of Discipline or the Disciplinary Committee imposing on him any of the penalties referred to in sub-section (3) of Section 21-A and sub-section (3) of Section 21-B, may within ninety days from the date on which the order is communicated to him, prefer an appeal to the Authority :

Provided that the Director (Discipline) may also appeal against the decision of the Board of Discipline or the Disciplinary Committee to the Authority, if so authorised by the Council, within ninety days :

Provided further that the Authority may entertain any such appeal after the expiry of the said period of ninety days, if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing the appeal in time.

(2) The Authority may, after calling for the records of any case, revise any order made by the Board of Discipline or the Disciplinary Committee under sub-section (3) of Section 21-A and sub-section (3) of Section 21-B and may—

(a) confirm, modify or set aside the order;

(b) impose any penalty or set aside, reduce, or enhance the penalty imposed by the order;

(c) remit the case to the Board of Discipline or Disciplinary Committee for such further enquiry as the Authority considers proper in the circumstances of the case; or

(d) pass such other order as the Authority thinks fit:

Provided that the Authority shall give an opportunity of being heard to the parties concerned before passing any order.]

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