Transitional disciplinary regime under the Chartered Accountants Act preserved pending information cases under the unamended procedure.

Section 21D operates as a transitional provision preserving the pre-amendment disciplinary regime for complaints, inquiries, references and appeals already pending when the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006 came into force. It is construed broadly so that information cases under consideration are treated the same as complaint cases, because both concern inquiry into professional misconduct within the same disciplinary process. A narrower reading would create an artificial distinction based only on the form in which allegations reached the Council and would undermine the purpose of the transition clause. Pending proceedings therefore continued under Sections 21, 22 and 22A of the unamended Act.

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Issues: Whether pending disciplinary proceedings, including information cases, were governed by the unamended procedure under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 or by the amended procedure introduced by the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006 under Section 21D.

Analysis: Section 21D is a transitional provision intended to preserve the pre-amendment legal regime for complaints, inquiries, references and appeals already pending before the Council, Disciplinary Committee or High Court when the amendment came into force. The expression used in Section 21D was construed broadly so that information cases already under consideration were not treated differently from complaint cases, since both involve inquiry into professional misconduct and form part of the same disciplinary process. A narrower reading would create an anomalous distinction between pending matters depending only on the form in which the allegations reached the Council, defeating the object of the transitional clause.

Conclusion: Pending proceedings, including information cases, continued to be governed by the unamended procedure under Sections 21, 22 and 22A of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, and not by the amended procedure introduced in 2006.

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