The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has removed the Chartered Accountant Shri Joydeep Roy from the register of members for two years along with a fine of Rs. 25,000/(Rupees Twenty-Five Thousand) as he failed to exercise due diligence while Certifying Form 15C.
A search and seizure action was conducted on the residential premises of Sri Vaddi Mahesh in Jessore Road, Kolkata, the residential premises of his father, Sri Vaddi Srinivasa Rao at Srikakulam and the business premises of the companies floated by them on 09/05/2017.
It was noticed that the companies floated by Sri Vaddi Mahesh were remitting substantial amounts of foreign exchange abroad ostensibly for the import of customized software. The Complainant stated that the Respondent has certified Form ’15CB’ in respect of various companies.
It was alleged that Respondent has issued various certificates in Form 15CB which is necessary for making foreign remittances. Further, a statement of the Respondent on oath was recorded under Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on 13/11/2017 wherein he stated that he had issued the certificates in Form 15CB without verifying any supporting documents and had charged Rs.500/- per certificate.
On perusal of Form 15CB, the Committee comprising of CA. Aniket Sunil Talati, Presiding Officer, Shri Prabhash Shankar, I.R.S., Rajkumar Satyanarayan Adukia and Gyan Chandra Misra observed that the Respondent has issued a total of 57 certificates in Form 15 CB wherein he certified a total of foreign remittance of approximate Rs. 89 crores and]no deduction of TDS was made from the amount remitted outside India. It is seen that the Respondent’s digital signature was appended on Form 15CB and he also accepted in his statement on oath u/s 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 that he issued the certificates in Form 15CB without verifying the actual downloading of the customized software.
It was viewed that the defence taken by the Respondent that his signature has been misused is not acceptable at all and appears to be an afterthought act on the part of the Respondent. Accordingly, the Committee is of the view that the Respondent did not exercise due diligence while certifying Form 15CB and appears to have relied upon the information provided by Shri Pratha Pratim Ghosh without verifying the relevant documents and information.
The ICAI held that the Respondent is guilty of Professional Misconduct falling within the meaning of Clauses (7) & (8) of Part I of the Second Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
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