ICAI writes to Newspaper for publishing Misleading Content

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ( ICAI ) has sent a letter to a leading newspaper for a news item titled “Chartered Accountants ki round table Conference.”

On 30th July 2018, it has been stated in the news item that Global Center for Entrepreneurship and Commerce & Association of Chartered Certified Accountant had organized a Round Table Conference at Jaipur.

“The headline of the news item mentions that a Round Table Conference of Chartered Accountants, whereas the content of the news item mentions about the Round-table Conference organized by a Global Center for Entrepreneurship and Commerce & Association of Chartered Certified Accountant. The headline is contradictory to the content,” the letter said.

“Would like to bring to your notice that The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India had not organized any such programme, hence the headline used in the news item is not correct. The ICAI takes a strong exception to the headline of the news item, as it is misleading/incorrect. It is quite unfortunate that the headline of the article appearing in a reputed publication is not in tandem with the news covered in the article. We would like to inform that The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body set up under an Act of Parliament to regulate the Profession of Chartered Accountants in India. The Institute upholds the ethical values that form the hallmark of the profession,” it said.

You are requested to publish the necessary clarification in the form of a news item in the same manner and at a conspicuous position as the news item published earlier so as to put the facts in the right perspective. We are sure that as responsible news daily, you will be discharging your said duty.

Last week, the ICAI Chief Naveen N D Gupta has confirmed that the Institute had taken strong action against the misleading media reports against the Chartered Accountants community.

“We have taken strong note of the manner in which the headline of a news item about conmen masquerading as CAs has been printed in a leading newspaper. The report has talked about fake CAs helping unscrupulous taxpayers claim ‘hefty tax refunds’. However, the use of the term ‘CAs’ in the headline makes the report misleading for the readers in the first impression, and this appears grossly derogatory to us CA professionals. We have filed a complaint with the Press Council of India and issued a show-cause notice to the newspaper that has published the report. Rest assured, we are also proactively taking note of all such reports in the media that portray our profession in bad light including weighing suitable legal remedies,” Gupta said.