The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) on Thursday issued an advisory wherein it warned that Disciplinary action will be taken against the registered students who are prefixing ‘CS’ in their name and misrepresenting themselves as a Member of the Institute.
The Institute clarified the fact that by merely registering as a student or passing of the Company Secretaryship Examination thereon conducted by the Institute and completion of the prescribed practical training, students do not become eligible to prefix “CS” in their names or represent themselves as a Member of the Institute.
“In order to be a Company Secretary, it’s essential that he/she obtains the membership of the Institute after complying with all the eligibility and pre-conditions as prescribed in the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 and the Company Secretaries Regulations, 1982 (as amended),” the Advisory instructed.
The Institute in order to take appropriate steps to restrain such usage further said that the act of Prefixing “CS” to the name and representing themselves as a Member of the Institute viz. “Company Secretary” without obtaining the membership of the Institute is in contravention of Section 24 of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.
“Breach of any provisions of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 by the registered student; the candidate enrolled for any examination conducted by the Institute; and the candidate undergoing practical training, is deemed to be a “misconduct as prescribed under clause (a) and (b) of Regulation 2 of the Company Secretaries Regulations, 1982 (as amended) and shall be subject to disciplinary action,” the Institute warned.
The Institute instructed all its students not to claim or represent himself/herself as a member of the Institute and not to use the designation “Company Secretary” (CS) and description “ACS” or “FCS” with their names before obtaining the membership of the Institute.
