Case Law Details
Aakansha Vaid Vs ICSI (Appellate Authority of ICSI)
he Authority records its displeasure about the conduct of the Complainant during the entire proceedings. The Complainant lodged a comprehensive Complaint supported with several documents before the Institute on 3rd August 2017. He sent letter dated 1st September 2017 providing certain information sought by the Institute. However, subsequent to that, he did not communicate with the Institute. He settled the dispute with the Appellant of his own without seeking any permission from the Institute Respondent No.1; he did not even bother to intimate the Institute about the alleged settlement. The Complainant having settled the dispute on 15.12.2017 did not withdraw the Complaint; he did not opt to appear before the Institute during proceedings. There was no occasion for the Complainant to handover the withdrawal letter to the Appellant. It resulted in the passing of the impugned Order whereby in ex-parte proceedings, the Appellant was held ‘Guilty’ and was punished. The Complainant, at first instance did not appear before this Authority despite service of notice. When compelled to put appearance vide order dated 04.10.2019, the Complainant has taken inconsistent pleas about the settlement. He did not disclose the terms and conditions of the settlement. This has caused immense wastage of time of the Authority. The action of the Complainant to settle the dispute without informing the Institute and to use the forum to recover his alleged ‘dues’ only is a serious matter and should be looked into by the Institute/BOD. From the contents of letter dated 18.04.2017 sent to the Appellant by the complainant, it can be inferred that the Complainant was interested in the recovery of his ‘dues’ only.
In the light of above discussion, we set aside the impugned Order dated 12th August, 2019 and remit the matter to the Board of Discipline with direction to decide it by a reasoned order in the light of observations made above. The Board of Discipline will dispose of this matter on merits after giving reasonable opportunity to parties to produce their evidence, within six (6) months from the date of receipt of this order.
FULL TEXT OF ORDER OF APPELLATE AUTHORITY
1. The matter was reserved for orders on 22nd January, 2020.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
