The year 2009 has been a year which most Chartered
Accountants in India would like to forget and put behind them as a bad dream.
Not only did the world economy and the Indian economy slow down, impacting
individual professional practices and careers, but the profession as a whole
suffered major blows to its credibility and standing, which plumbed new depths
during the year.
The month of January began with the arrest of a Council
member (possibly for the first time) along with his partner for abetting and
assisting in perpetration of a management fraud. The year also witnessed various
allegations against some office bearers and Council members regarding certain
actions and certain expenditures, and adverse media publicity for the Institute
in this regard. As if this were not enough, during the recent elections, we
witnessed frenzied voter wooing by candidates and electoral malpractices. How
much worse can things get for the profession ?
The image of the profession, which had a good standing in
public perception so far as compared to other professions, and had been built up
so assiduously over the years, has been badly dented in the course of events of
a single year. It is difficult to build up a reputation — it can be easily
destroyed overnight. Chartered Accountancy was one of the few professions of
which one could be proud to be a member of — all of us have joined the
profession because of its image. Today, even students talk about the untoward
happenings in the profession, and wonder what is in store for the future. As
professionals, is it not time for members to stop playing selfish politics and
combine together to rebuild the image of the profession ?
One can compare our profession with others and claim
superiority, or point out that the ills which plague the nation and Indian
society are bound to have an impact on our profession as well, instead of taking
corrective action. This is the easy way out, and will unfortunately lower the
status and dignity of the profession, which as a body of educated intellectuals,
should stand apart from the rest.
Our newly elected Council members have been elected with the
high hopes and expectations of the common members of the profession reposed in
them that they will act and take steps to stem the decline in standards of
public life in the profession. Image building cannot happen through mere public
relations and advertisements. It can happen only through principled decisions
and actions taken in the best interests of the profession, untainted by
considerations of personal impact. It calls for individual sacrifices for the
greater good of the profession.
The tasks ahead for the new Council are many and difficult.
Besides gearing up the members of the profession to meet the challenges thrown
up by introduction of IFRS, the Direct Taxes Code, GST and the new Companies
Act, the Council needs to usher in adequate transparency in the functioning of
the Institute. In this era of transparency, where the Right to Information Act
is invoked even in case of judges of the Supreme Court, no public organisation
can ignore the need for transparency. Can we introduce some manner of disclosure
for Council members to disclose their professional interests ? Can some form of
progress reports be given to the public at regular intervals in relation to
disciplinary proceedings which have a public bearing, so that the public is
aware and kept abreast of the reasons for delay in completion of proceedings ?
Today, it is not only important to take action, but as important to be seen as
having taken it.
It is also important that the rationale behind various
decisions is conveyed to the general membership, and that members are kept
abreast of the happenings at the Institute. Only then will members feel that
they are also an integral part of the Institute. After all, the Council members
are the duly elected representatives of the members.
There are many more changes which the profession is looking
forward to — follow-up of the amendment of the CA Act and the Companies Act to
permit functioning of CA practices as LLPs, electoral reforms and electronic
voting, amendments to the Code of Conduct — all these and many more items will
ensure that the new Council has its hands full throughout its term.
All of us offer our best wishes and support to the new
Council members in tackling the difficult tasks ahead. In their success as a
Council, lies our success as a profession.
I wish each one of you a happier and more professionally satisfying 2010.
