ICSI Students and Trainees can be Prosecuted for Professional Misconduct: ICSI notifies Amendment [Read Notification]

The Institute of Company Secretaries India  ( ICSI ) has notified an amendment to the Company Secretaries Regulations, 1982 about the addition of two new subsections to its rule defining  Professional misconduct.

The latest additions now mean that CS students’ and trainees’ behaviour during classes, examination, training and all other activities associated with their entry into the profession will now have to be strictly disciplined as if they are a professional. The two new subsections that bring these changes says:

“(ia) ‘misconduct’ in relation to a registered student or a candidate enrolled for any examination conducted by the Institute means behaviour in disorderly manner in relation to the Institute or in or around an examination centre or premises, or breach of any provision of the Act, rule, regulation, notification, condition, guideline, direction, advisory, circular of the Institute, or adoption of malpractices with regard to postal or oral tuition or resorting to or attempting to resort to unfair means in connection with writing of any examination conducted by the Institute, or tampering with the Institute’s record or database, writing or sharing information about the Institute on public forums, social networking or any print or electronic media which is defamatory or any other act which may harm, damage, hamper or challenge the secrecy, decorum or sanctity of examination or training or any policy of the Institute;

(ib) ‘misconduct’ in relation to a candidate undergoing practical training or any other training by whatever name called, as determined by the Council, means behaviour in disorderly manner in relation to the Institute or in or around the place where undergoing training, or breach of any provision of the Act, rule, regulation, notification, condition, guideline, direction, advisory, circular of the Institute, or tampering with Institute’s record or database, writing or sharing information about the Institute on public forums, social networking or any print or electronic media which is defamatory, malpractice with regard to training or resorting to or attempting to resort to unfair means in connection with the undergoing training or seeking exemption from undergoing training or for breach of any policy, rule or regulation of the organisation in which he is undergoing training;”

ICSI has earlier, the regulations defined it as, “‘misconduct’ in relation to a member means and includes any professional or other misconduct as specified in Section 22 of the Act or in any of the Schedules to the Act;” only.