$~122 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 17170/2025, CM APPL. 70626/2025, CM APPL.

70628/2025, CM APPL. 74997/2025 and CM APPL. 81802/2025 Date of Decision: 16.03.2026 IN THE MATTER OF:

GAURAV AGGRAWAL S/O SH. CHATAR BHUJ AGGRAWAL, RESIDENT 206-207, THIRD FLOOR, POCKET 2, SECTOR 22, ROHINI, DELHI - 110086 .....Petitioner (Through: Dr. J.K.Mittal, Ms.Vandana Mittal, Mr.Mukesh Choudhary, Advocates.)

Versus INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA (ICAI)

THROUGH ITS SECRETARY ICAI BHAWAN INDRARASTHA MARG, LP. ESTATE NEW DELHI - 110002 .....Respondent No.1 NORTHERN INDIA REGIONAL COUNCIL OF THEINSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA (NIRC OF ICAI)

THROUGH ITS SECRETARY ICAI BHAWAN

5^TH FLOOR, ANNEXE BUILDING, INDRAPRASTHA MARG, LP. ESTATE NEW DELHI - 110002 .....Respondent No.2 SH. JAGJEET SINGH JAGS CHAIRMAN NORTHERN INDIA REGIONAL COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA ( NIRC OF ICAI)

ICAI BHAWAN

5TH FLOOR, ANNEXE BUILDING, INDRARASTHA MARG, LP. ESTATE NEW DELHI- 110002. .....Respondent No.3 (Through:Ms. Pooja Mehra Saigal, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Vibhooti Malhotra, Mr bhuvnesh Satija, Mr Yash Baraliya, Mr Aniket Khanduri, Mr Nivesh Dixit Advocates. .)

CORAM:

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV

JUDGEMENT

PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J. (ORAL)

1. The petitioner is a Chartered Accountant and a member of respondent no. 1-Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). He was elected as a member of respondent no. 2-Northern India Regional Council of the ICAI (Council) for two terms, i.e., 2022-2025 and 2025-2029. In his first term, he served, additionally, as the Treasurer of the Council. The dispute herein relates to the removal/vacation of the petitioner as a member of the Council, as per Regulation 135(3) of the Chartered Accountant’s Regulations, 1988 (‘the Regulations of 1988’) framed under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (‘the Act of 1949’), for allegedly remaining absent from three consecutive meetings without leave of absence.

2. The petition is, primarily, for setting aside the communication dated

06.11.2025 issued by the Council informing the petitioner of the automatic vacation of his seat as an elected member. The petitioner also seeks declaration that the meetings of the Council which were held on 15.04.2025, 28.04,2025, 01.05.2025, 08.05.2025, 12.05.2025, and 14.05.2025 as illegal, setting aside the meeting notice dated 06.11.2025 for convening a meeting on 13.11.2025, and removal of respondent no. 3 as Chairman of the Council. 3. For the sake of clarity, the impugned email dated 06.11.2025 is extracted as under:-

“Subject: Vacation of Seat under Regulation 135(3) of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 CA. Aggrawal Gaurav M. No.: 532594 Subject: Vacation of Seat under Regulation 135(3) of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 Dear Sir, This is with reference to The Gazette of India published by Authority No. 54-EL(1)/14/2024dated 27th December, 2024, wherein, in pursuance of the provisions of sub-regulation (10) of Regulation 134 of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 read with Rule 36 of the Chartered Accountants (Election to the Council) Rules, 2006, the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India was pleased to notify for general information the names of members elected to the Twenty-Fifth Regional Councils of the Institute. Your name was accordingly notified as a member of the Northern India Regional Council of ICAI (NIRC).

It is noticed that as per the attendance records and Minutes of meetings of the Regional Council of NIRC of ICAI, you had remained absent from the last three consecutive meetings of the Regional Council as well as from subsequent adjourned meetings without seeking leave of absence as per details given below:-

Regulation 135(3) of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, reads as under:

“an elected member of a Regional Council shall be deemed to have vacated his seat on the Regional Council if he absents himself from