https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=445071 The Bombay HC disposed of a professional misconduct reference against a 77-year-old chartered accountant accused of fabricating bogus payment challans and misappropriating client funds. Despite the ICAI finding the CA guilty and recommending one-year removal from practice, the HC rejected the recommendation due to inordinate 19-year delay in completing disciplinary proceedings without satisfactory explanation from ICAI. The court noted the complaint was filed 10-12 years after the incident, with ICAI taking 14 years to reach guilt findings and additional years for procedural compliance. Citing Supreme Court precedent in State of Madhya Pradesh v Bani Singh regarding unfairness of prolonged proceedings, the HC found no substantial justification for punishment given the delay and respondent's otherwise clean professional record. en-us Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:44:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=445071 The Bombay HC disposed of a professional misconduct reference against a 77-year-old chartered accountant accused of fabricating bogus payment challans and misappropriating client funds. Despite the ICAI finding the CA guilty and recommending one-year removal from practice, the HC rejected the recommendation due to inordinate 19-year delay in completing disciplinary proceedings without satisfactory explanation from ICAI. The court noted the complaint was filed 10-12 years after the incident, with ICAI taking 14 years to reach guilt findings and additional years for procedural compliance. Citing Supreme Court precedent in State of Madhya Pradesh v Bani Singh regarding unfairness of prolonged proceedings, the HC found no substantial justification for punishment given the delay and respondent's otherwise clean professional record. Case-Laws Indian Laws Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=445071