Under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, which disciplinary body handles cases of professional misconduct covered under the First Schedule, and which body handles cases under the Second Schedule or both Schedules?

Disciplinary Committee for Second Schedule or both The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 establishes a two-tier disciplinary mechanism for dealing with professional misconduct. The Board of Discipline (Section 21A) handles cases falling under the First Schedule, which covers relatively less grave instances of misconduct such as advertising, touting, solicitation, and procedural lapses through a summary disposal procedure. The Disciplinary Committee (Section 21B) handles more serious cases covered under the Second Schedule alone, or under both the First and Second Schedules together such as falsifying reports, gross negligence, and misconduct affecting public interest. In both cases, the member must be given an opportunity of being heard before any order is passed. The penalties that can be imposed include reprimand, removal of name from the register of members for a specified period, and imposition of a fine. A member aggrieved by the decision of either body can prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority constituted under Section 22A of the Act. The 2022 Amendment Act further strengthened the disciplinary framework by introducing timelines for disposal of disciplinary proceedings to prevent indefinite pendency.