The Southern India Regional Council (SIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is preparing to initiate stern action against the corrupt Chartered Accountants (CAs) involved in scams, if found guilty.

The names of some CA professionals hit the headlines in the recent past in cases of financial irregularities which rocked the State. The accused are cooling their heels in jails, while a few are facing trial in courts.

Kunda Rama Narayana, chairman of the ICAI, Vijayawada branch, told The Hindu that there were occasions when the ICAI  initiated action against corrupt CAs in the country, if they were found accused by the courts.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the money laundering/cheating cases in which some thousands of crores of public money is involved, alleged that chartered accountants were the brain behind the fraud and consciously abetted the crime.

These fraudulent companies caused loss of thousands of crores to the governments exchequer, the CBI sleuths said and mentioned the names of some of the CAs as main accused in their investigation reports.

As the cases are in courts, we dont want to comment on the role of the chartered accountants. Once the courts give their verdict, we will take action against them as per the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee of the ICAI, Mr. Rama Narayana said without quoting anyone.

As a punishment, their membership will be cancelled for lifetime and the accused will not be allowed to continue their practice, Vijayawada branch secretary S. Akkaiah Naidu said.

Meet on ethics

A special session would be conducted on spiritual and ethical behaviour of a person during the two-day State-level Chartered Accountants meet to be held at Vijayawada on July 7 and 8, said ICAI Vijayawada branch vice-chairman B. Shivaji Prasad who is also the conference core committee member.

Experts in the field will deliver lectures on ethical behaviour of the Chartered Accountants and the need to maintain morals in the profession, said Mr. Prasad.