Mohit Bansal Vs Institute of Chartered Accountants of India & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
The Delhi High Court dealt with an intra-court appeal arising from the dismissal of a writ petition that had challenged a show cause notice issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The appellant, a qualified Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute, had initially approached the Court seeking quashing of a show cause notice dated 14.09.2020. The learned Single Judge dismissed that writ petition on 21.01.2022. The appellant thereafter filed the present appeal challenging the dismissal.
During the pendency of the appeal, the Institute proceeded with the disciplinary process. A hearing pursuant to the show cause notice was conducted on 29.08.2022, and by an order dated 01.03.2023, the appellant’s name was removed from the Register of Members under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. Following this development, the appellant sought amendment of the appeal to also challenge the removal order. The amendment application was allowed on 13.09.2023, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the respondents, and the appeal was accordingly amended.
At the hearing of the appeal, the Court indicated that a direct challenge to the final removal order could not ordinarily be entertained at the appellate stage unless the appellant had first approached the Single Judge by way of a writ petition against that order. To assist the Court on this issue, a senior advocate appeared and submitted that the appeal had been amended to include the challenge to the removal order, which was passed relying upon the earlier judgment dismissing the writ petition.
