The central government has recommended disciplinary action against 400 chartered accountants and company secretaries (CS), who are accused of flouting norms and rules and associated with Chinese shell companies in metro cities. This action is a continuation of the steps taken by the Indian government against China and Chinese companies after the Galwan clashes of 2020.
20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a clash with the People’s Liberation Army of China in Galvan. According to the report of The Hindu, a senior official told in this matter that the CAs and Company Secretaries (CS) against whom the action has been initiated, have committed large number of Chinese-owned or Chinese companies without complying with the rules and regulations. operated shell companies. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has recommended this action based on the inputs received from the Financial Intelligence Agency in the last two months. As of now, the spokesperson of the ministry has not commented on this.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is a statutory body that regulates the profession of Chartered Accountancy in the country. On behalf of ICAI, it has been said that the Disciplinary Directorate has received reports from various registrar offices of Chartered Accountants in collusion with Chinese companies. Based on these complaints, further investigation is being conducted under the CA (Procedure to inquire into the conduct of professional and other misconduct and cases) Rules, 2007. Everything will come out only after a detailed investigation in this matter and at this point of time, it is too early to comment.
There was no response from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India on the matter. The Income Tax Department has raided about half a dozen Chinese companies in telecom, fintech and manufacturing since October last year in tax evasion and other cases.