Facts

Appeal arose in relation to a criminal complaint against the Respondent, a Chartered Accountant, in relation to a sale of 100 shares in 1999 transferred to     his own name. He was found guilty of the crime and the ICAI had recommended  for the suitable punishment against him. The High Court had rejected the ICAI’s recommendation that the Respondent should be removed from the rolls for a period of six months, on the grounds that the Respondent was acting in an individual capacity nor was he discharging any function  in relation to his practice as a Chartered Accountant.

Issue

Whether a Chartered Accountant can be guilty of professional misconduct even when he/she is not acting as a Chartered Accountant or discharging functions in relation to his/her practice as a Chartered Accountant.

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A Chartered Accountant can be held guilty of professional misconduct even when he is acting as an individual in his dealings and is not acting as a Chartered Accountant nor discharging any function in relation to his practice as a Chartered Accountant. Any action which brings disrepute to the profession or the Institute    is misconduct, whether or not related to professional work.

Held

Impugned order of the High Court was set aside. (CA No. 11034 of 2018 (Arising out of SLP (C) No. 19564/2017, dt. 16-11-2018) by the Supreme court

by upholding the recommendation of the ICAI to suitable punish him for his misconduct.

Editorial: The ruling mandates a strict code of professional conduct on  the part of a Chartered Accountant, even when he/she is not acting as a Chartered Accountant nor discharging any function in relation to his/her practice as a Chartered Accountant. It should apply with equal force to all other professionals who are governed by self regulatory codes of the respective bodies monitoring their conduct in the interest of the profession.

“The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.”

– Mahatma Gandhi