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TMI Blog1998 (7) TMI 641X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 ( the Act ) and that the petitioners are not obliged to pay the stipend as per the abovesaid provisions. 2. In all the writ petitions the facts are one and the same and hence, the following common order is passed. 3. The petitioners are practising Chartered Accountants at Madras. The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) was intended to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountants and for that purpose, to establish the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Any person or association of persons desirous of carrying on the profession of Chartered Accountant is required to have his name entered in the register under the provisions of section 3 of the Act. Under the provisions of the Act, every ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed 24-5-1973, the council amended the regulation by introducing a new regulation 32B. Regulation 32B reads as follows see [1973] 43 Comp. Cas. (St.) 161 : "32B. Stipend to articled clerks. (1) Every member engaging an articled clerk on or after July 1, 1973, shall pay to such clerk a minimum monthly stipend at the rates specified in sub-regulation (2) or in sub-regulation (3) hereof, as the case may be. (2) If the normal place of service of an articled clerk is situated in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, New Delhi, Kanpur or Madras, the following shall be the minimum rates of the stipend payable under sub-regulation (1) : ( a )in respect of the first year of articled training Rs. 60 per month. ( b )in respect of the second year of art ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ncil made the following amendments in the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, namely "(1)( i ) These regulations may be called the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations, 1988. ( ii ) They shall come into force on the 1st day of October, 1989. (2) In the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, for sub-regulation (1) of regulation 48, the following shall be substituted, namely : ( i ) Every principal engaging an articled clerk shall pay to such clerk every month a minimum monthly stipend at the rates specified below depending on where the normal place of service of the articled clerk is situated : Situation of the normal place of service of the articled clerk During the first year of training Dur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndment has come into force from 1-10-1989. The same has been impugned in this writ petition as ultra vires, unreasonable and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. It is argued on behalf of the petitioner that stipulation for payment to articled clerks caused hardship to the Chartered Accountants as the articled clerks are yet in the process of learning and they are students. They are not even constantly or regularly available for being of service to the Chartered Accountants under whom they are serving. The impugned notification is its total failure to make any distinction from case to case and in effect forces an onerous term upon non-consenting parties, and prohibits the right to carry on the profession by imposing conditions lik ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed partnership of chartered accountants in the manner prescribed, in the impugned notification it is also the case of charging of fee by the auditors. 6. In this case, it could be seen that regulation 32B has already been upheld by a Division Bench of this Court reported in V. Pichaikutty s case ( supra ), wherein this Court held that the power of the Council to regulate the engagement and training of such articled clerks and, hence, any regulation relating to the same will be within the regulation-making power of the Council. The idea of payment of stipend to the articled clerk cannot be said to be opposed to or foreign to the relationship of the member and the articled clerk or the purpose of the training. In that case, the stipend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ht of the petitioner to get the training, but it obliges the chartered accountant to pay stipend. The obligation is on the char- tered accountant though there is a corresponding right on the member. That obligation imposed by the statute has to be performed and, hence, it could not be said that it is discriminatory and violative of Article 14. It could also be seen that the amendment has come into force from 1-10-1989, and it did not have the retrospective effect. In this case, the petitioners counsel in support of his contention was not able to produce any material before this Court to show that he hired the articled clerks on contract. In the absence of such material, it cannot be said that the petitioners are not bound by the regulation ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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