One does not expect businessmen to discipline themselves but professionals(lawyers/doctors/CA's/CS/CWA's etc) are expected to do so. Even the consumer courts/HC/SC give reliance to the findings of the disciplinary bodies of those institutes before entertaining public complaints against these professionals.
The case for professional self regulation has been that
- only a professional can appreciate and critique the work of another('peer review' also based on this)
- Professionals work in the public interest and so can be trusted to self regulate themselves.
Sadly, this trust seems to have been some what misplaced. When a professional is arrested, the profession is certainly brought into disrepute. When ICAI, ICSI and ICWAI were slow to act on the press reports, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) had to direct them via
this letter issued in Dec-10 to take suo-motu notice of such publicly reported cases. The list of professionals (against whom such action is pending) has to be mentioned.
As an aspiring member of all 3 institutes, it saddens me to note that the MCA had to take such a severe step. Even a layperson(let alone an informed member) would expect speedier investigation by the institutes( into professional misconduct resulting in arrest) than by the investigating agencies. Hopefully, the MCA letter will restore some public confidence into efficacy of 'self regulation'
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