The Hindu Business Line : Thou shalt not do what's not permitted

IN the Disciplinary Section of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the telephone never stops ringing. More so, these days, after somebody told a court that CAs need authorisation from the Institute for writing articles in newspapers. Ever since, anxious callers have been so desperate to get the ICAI's approval for almost everything that the new Council may even think of outsourcing to a call centre the voluminous job of collating all requests.

Word has got around that CAs are to be meted out with special treatment, so almost all regulators have become alert. It would, therefore, be inadvisable for CAs to give their visiting cards if a cop who stops them at the traffic signal wants to know who they are. Don't despair, for a solution may soon emerge for the purpose, since the Delhi guys have been trying to draft a general authorisation that may be posted on www.icai.org on the following lines: "A chartered accountant, as defined by the CA Act or any Rules made there under, may, if needed, drive a motor vehicle, as defined in the Motor Vehicles Act, on roads as defined by... "

Off roads too, CAs are managing to get into problems. There're reports of early-morning joggers being screened to find if bean counters do their workouts with due approval of their alma mater. And sabha secretaries have beefed up security in concert halls to keep away the number crunchers from imbibing notes without an ICAI certificate, complete with notes in fine print containing helpful disclaimers. But nothing could be crueller than being stalled when drinking tea in kiosks and asked for what the grapevine calls the `T tick' from IP Marg.

All was well in libraries and cubicles till somebody discovered that actions come from thoughts. "Do you have the Institute's authorisation to think!" is what I think, with due approval, as a possible question that can make you stop thinking and start doing permitted things such as totalling and vouching, pushing papers and crossing numbers, shuffling and blinking.

The vile news has leaked to the kids also and so when a CA parent scolds, the child retorts, "Mom, I've a doubt, did you get the Institute's authorisation to advise me?" They ask to be shown the Guidance Note on PA - or permitted activities, or the AS on SEs, that is, accounting standard on sanctioned efforts.

Papers are piling up with nervous letters from a variety of sources, and the Disciplinary Committee is debating some of them upon, and pushing the really tough queries to the Expert Advisory group. One such reads, "Can I love a CA?" and opinion from the EAC emerged after lengthy deliberations. "Yes, you can, assuming you're not a CA yourself, in which case, it may become necessary for both of you to apply separately for clearance from PAPA, short for Permanent Adviser on Permitted Activities."

Yesterday, at 2 am, when the prez was stumbling into the hotel lobby after getting ruined by the disciplinary drill at the Institute, the VP asked him a smart question: "Don't CAs need the Institute's permission to stay awake in the wee hours?" And that set the ball rolling, they say, and soon a sub committee was formed to lighten the load of the DC by bringing out an exposure draft mentioning all things their members can do without waiting for the chitti from Dilli. Reliable sources say that the crack team has been working day and night, with a dictionary of verbs on hand. And that they've already finished A, B, C, D and E, and are raring to go forward.

AccountSpeak@TheHindu.co.in

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