Judgment

PATHAK, J. :- These appeals raise some fundamental questions in regard to the conduct and procedure of disciplinary proceedings taken under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. Two of the questions are :-

1. "Whether a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is entitled to a hearing by the Council of the Institute after the Disciplinary Committee has submitted its report to the Council of its enquiry into allegations of misconduct against the member?

2. When the Council proceeds to consider the Report of the Disciplinary Committee, is the proceeding vitiated by the presence of the members of the Disciplinary Committee who include the President and the Vice-President of the Council and three other members of it?"

2. The appellant is the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (the "Institute"). The Institute was created as a body corporate under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (the "Act"), and its members are Chartered Accountants. The affairs of the Institute are managed by a body known as the Council of the Institute, which is headed by a President and a Vice-President below him. There are three Standing Committees of the Council, and one of them is