ICAI Bhawan, New Delhi
Elections to the Central Council and Regional
Councils of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India would be held on 7th
and 8th December 2018. CAs standing for elections are contacting for
first preference vote like any other sundry politician. I used the term ‘any
other sundry politician’ simply because, once the elections are over, these
Members even refuse to look at you when you come across each other at any place
or event.
For me ICAI is another UPA. Nepotism and
Ghettoism is the hallmark. Disciplinary Council works only by ‘not working’. PM
Narendra Modi had also brought this to the notice of the ICAI couple of years
ago by highlighting the huge pendency of disciplinary cases. PM also reminded
CAs of their duties and scolded them not to advice clients on how to evade
taxes by dubious means with huge applause from the CAs themselves. However, I
am not going into that aspect here.
The Institute is made from the members
themselves. Unless the members are clean and upright in their own professional conduct,
we cannot have an Organization that will live up to the expectations of the
Public from this profession.
The observations made in an article dated
13/11/2018, by CA Amresh Vashisht - “The
President offices were having the allegations of money misappropriation,
council members shaking hands with the Big 4, council members in jail, council
members in armed booth capturing, council members disciplinary scams, council
expenditure scams, examination scam and so on. All such events resulted in
depreciation of the brand value of Chartered Accountants.” – underline one
point that unless the individual members stand tall, the Institute would not
stand tall.
I am covering only one aspect of the
professional/individual conduct of a CA – viz., the way they deal with their
articled clerks (CA students).
In last five years, many CA students from
Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Pune had contacted me on how to deal with the
harassment meted out to them by their principal CA and seek transfer to a
humane CA. The tactics employed by the Principal CA are nothing short of a
harassment of criminal nature. I have guided them to deal with the errant CA without
aggravating the situation, to the extent possible. But some CAs need thorough
cleansing.
This is something more than a mere
“professional and other misconduct” by a Chartered Accountant within the
meaning of the CA Act and CA Regulations. I want to share one such case from
Pune as this case amongst the cases that came to me had crossed all known barometers
of civility, propriety and sobriety. The name of the CA student as well as her
Principal CA is withheld at her request.
This female was an articled clerk and was
pursuing her CA course. She wanted a transfer from her existing principal CA to
another CA. The reasons for seeking transfer were as follows:
1.
Regular use of derogatory language and
constant name calling such as idiot, dumb, fool, donkey etc.;
2.
Expressing constant displeasure and rude
attitude;
3.
Not even allowing to have lunch during lunch
time;
4.
Not allowing to do GMCS-I course before
completion of one year of articleship thus further leading to postponement of her
CA final attempt by six months and further derisively stating in public that
“You will not be able to clear the CA final exam”.
5.
Not at all caring about her career &
wasting six months of her life which has caused her to lose her self-confidence.
6.
When she requested the Principal CA to give her
transfer to another CA firm, the Principal CA started yelling & shouting on
top of his voice in a fit of rage & bluntly refused stating “I will not
sign your transfer document, do what you want”.
7.
Threatening to ruin her career by using his
contacts in the Regional and Central Council of the CA Institute.
The constant abuse and name calling had taken
a toll on her health and the poor girl had lost about 6 kgs in 8 months.
She had approached some CAs in the Pune Branch
of ICAI for help and guidance. However, to her shock, everyone advised her to
adjust to the said CA. They not only discouraged her from complaining to the CA
Institute but also cautioned her against filing any complaint on the ground
that it would ruin her career.
When her
father finally approached me, I told him it is useless to approach Disciplinary
Council or any other Council of the ICAI. My experience with one Central
Council member has been discouraging so much so that I feel Council is a ‘coterie’.
However, I tried to contact one member of WIRC. The gentleman did not respond
to my repeated WhatsApp and SMS messages. Ironically, this CA had called me
repeatedly for first preference vote before previous election. Since I do not
want to embarrass this member, I am withholding his name. However, his nonresponse
made me to refer to the news item 'ICAI disciplinary panel decisionswere forged' that appeared in Times of India on 23rd
May, 2014.
`
Considering this experience and the sorry
state of affairs as per the news item, I advised her to forget the provisions
of the CA Act and CA Rules and invoke the provisions of Indian Penal Code and
other applicable laws dealing with harassment at work place, intimidation, humiliation,
torture, etc. I advised the girl to send her harassing boss for a thorough
cleansing under IPC in a Laundromat in Police Station.
The Girl gathered courage and finally lodged
the complaint with Women’s Cell, Crime Branch of the Police as per the advice
given by me. One phone call from the Women’s Cell and the errant Principal CA
signed the transfer form with profound apologies. His threats of ruining the
career and taking revenge evaporated in thin air. The harsh reality that his
actions as narrated above have exposed him to criminal prosecution attracting a
fairly long sentence of imprisonment suddenly dawned on him. The justice was
done. This quick and effective justice would not have been possible under the
present non-existing mechanism in the Institute.
ICAI has to be more sensitive to the plight
of Articled Clerks arising out of inhumane treatment given by their own members
and a students’ resultant desire for transfer from their existing Principal.
The existing Principal is always reluctant as he stands to lose the cheap
labour force. I use the terminology ‘cheap labour force’ mainly because as
compared to the salary paid to a normal clerk, the stipend paid under the CA
Regulations is always at a substantially lower level. Even though the stipend
is not the issue at all, the ICAI has to show sensitive approach towards the
issue of harassment meted out to the Articled Clerks when they apply for
transfer and/or leave.
It should be noted that ‘articleship
agreement’ executed between the Principal CA and the CA Student does not make
that student a ‘bonded labourer’ of that Principal CA.
I am told by a sitting Central Council Member
that unfortunately, the ICAI has no such mechanism in place at the moment, even
though the matter has been under active consideration for quite a long time.
The reason why ICAI has no mechanism in place again defies all barometers of logic
– to say the least. I am told that according to the Central Council, ‘articleship
agreement’ is a private agreement between the CA and the Student and the ICAI
cannot do anything in case of dispute between the Principal CA and the Student.
Simply bizarre and absurd – to say the least.
Is it a case of the Central Council that the
articleship agreement is not an essential and inbuilt ingredient of CA course
formulated under the CA Act and CA Regulations?
Is it something that is undertaken
voluntarily by the students outside the ambit of CA course by mutual negotiation
with the Principal CA?
Is it not a fact that the entire agreement in
the prescribed Form 102 is formulated by the Central Council under Regulation
45?
Is it not a fact that the CA and the Student has
to sign on the dotted lines by filling only their individual particulars?
Then how does the agreement become private
agreement between the CA and the Student? Read Regulation 45 and other relevant
regulations carefully. It is high time Central Council Members did a crash
refresher course in CA Act and CA Regulations.
Remove this mandatory condition and then see
how many students sign such articleship agreements with CA firms to work! Such bizarre
argument not only exposes the insensitivity of the Council Members but also
their lack of knowledge. Or is it a case that since Central Council members
themselves have many article clerks, they are wary of creating such a platform?
It is high time ICAI also introduced one
paper on Indian Penal Code in the final course that would sensitize the CAs
about how many of their acts of omission and commission committed in the course
of their practice would constitute criminal offence under IPC and what are the consequences
of such criminal offence.
The ICAI should also set up mechanism where
complaints against refusal to give transfer would be dealt with within 2-3
working days without any bias against the concerned student.
Hope ICAI listens.
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