ICAI flays autonomy assault

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has cried foul over government's move to curb its autonomy through amendments in the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2003 tabled in the Rajya Sabha this year.

" The government has become more regressive in its outlook, imposing even more restrictions on the institute when India itself is moving towards a more liberalised environment," R Bupathy president of the ICAI said here today.

The institute was not even consulted on many of the provisions that have been introduced in the Bill resulting in ambiguity in many of the clauses, he added saying this would create implementation problems.

Bupathy also said that the ICAI will also make representation to the finance minister and the department of company affairs (DCA) against many of the provisions of the bill.

Commenting on one of the stated objectives of the Bill, to bring the acts of all three institutes""the ICAI, the Institute of Company Secretary of India and the Institute of Cost and the Work Accountants of India in harmony with each other, Bupathy said, it seems that the ICAI is being punished for the follies of its sister institutes.