The Hindu Business Line : Bill to revamp professional institutes gets Cabinet nod

CLOSE on the heels of formulating a concept paper for revamping the company law, the Government has moved a step closer towards overhauling the functioning of the three professional institutes — the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Cost & Works Accountants (ICWAI) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for the three Bills that are already before the Standing Committee on Finance. Informed sources said that the approval of the Cabinet was necessary to ensure that there are no technical glitches to their passage in Parliament.

They, however, maintained that there are no changes inthe basic features of the Bills that were introduced in Rajya Sabha by the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government.

In the NDA regime, the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, had introduced three separate Bills in the Rajya Sabha last year. Subsequently, the Bills were referred to a Standing Committee on Finance, which has now undergone a change consequent to the new regime at the Centre. The three Bills aimed at bringing in uniformity in the disciplinary mechanisms and other functions of these professional bodies.

The three Bills also provide for appointment of a prosecution director in each of the three institutes to hasten the disciplinary process. They also prescribe the establishment of a quality review board (QRB) and the constitution of separate appellate authorities to deal with appeals against the orders of the respective councils.

The Bills have also outlined the actions that constitute professional misconduct in relation to professionals in practice, members of the institute in service, and members of the institute generally.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the stock market scam of March 2001, had adversely commented on the slow disciplinary procedure for the erring members of ICAI.

A high-level committee under the chairmanship of the former Cabinet Secretary, Mr Naresh Chandra, was set up to examine the auditor-company relationship and disciplinary mechanism for the auditors.

A number of recommendations of the committee were adopted in the three Bills.

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