law: Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 
  21. Procedure in inquiries relating to misconduct of members
  
  of Institute
  (1) Where on receipt of information by, or of a complaint made
  
  to it, the Council is prima facie of opinion that any member of the Institute
  
  has been guilty of any professional or other misconduct, the Council shall
  
  refer the case to the Disciplinary Committee, and the Disciplinary Committee
  
  shall thereupon hold such inquiry and in such manner as may be prescribed, and
  
  shall report the result of its inquiry to the Council.
  (2) If on receipt of such report the Council finds that the
  
  member of the Institute is not guilty of any professional or other misconduct,
  
  it shall record its finding accordingly and direct that the proceedings shall
  
  be filed or the complaint shall be dismissed, as the case may be.
  (3) If on receipt of such report the Council finds that the
  
  member of the Institute is guilty of any professional or other misconduct, it
  
  shall record a finding accordingly and shall proceed in the manner laid down in
  
  the succeeding sub-sections.
  (4)Where the finding is that a member of the Institute has been
  
  guilty of a professional misconduct specified in Schedule 1, the Council shall
  
  afford to the member an opportunity of being heard before orders are passed
  
  against him on the case, and may thereafter make any of the following orders,
  
  namely,- 
  (a) reprimand the member;
  (b) remove the name of the member from the
  
  Register for such period, not exceeding five years, as the Council thinks fit:
  PROVIDED  that where it appears to the Council that the
  
  case is one in which the name of the member ought to be removed from the
  
  Register for a period exceeding five years or permanently, it shall not make
  
  any order referred to in clause (a) or clause (b), but shall forward the case
  
  to the High Court with its recommendations thereon.
  (5) Where the misconduct in respect of which the Council has
  
  found any member of the Institute guilty is misconduct other than any such
  
  misconduct as is referred to in sub-section (4), it shall forward the case to
  
  the High Court with its recommendations thereon.
  (6) On receipt of any case under sub-section(4) or
  
  sub-section(5), the High Court shall fix a date for the hearing of the case and
  
  shall cause notice of the date so fixed, to be given to the member of the
  
  Institute concerned, the Council and to the Central Government, and shall
  
  afford such member, the Council and the Central Government an opportunity of being
  
  heard, and may thereafter make any of the following orders, namely ,- 
  (a) direct that the proceedings be filed, or
  
  dismiss the complaint, as the case may be;
  (b) reprimand the member;
  (c) remove him from membership of the
  
  Institute either permanently or for such period as the High Court thinks fit;
  (d) refer the case to the Council for further
  
  inquiry and report.
  (7) Where it appears to the High Court that the transfer of any
  
  case pending before it to another High Court, will promote the ends of justice
  
  or tend to the general convenience of the parties, it may so transfer the case,
  
  subject to such conditions, if any, as it thinks fit to impose, and the High
  
  Court to which such case is transferred shall deal with it as if the case had
  
  been forwarded to it by the Council.
  Explanation I: In this section "High Court"
  
  means the highest civil court of appeal, not including the Supreme Court,
  
  exercising jurisdiction in the area in which the person whose conduct is being
  
  inquired into carries on business, or has his principal place of business at
  
  the commencement of the inquiry:
  PROVIDED  that where the cases relating to two or more
  
  members of the Institute have to be forwarded by the Council to different High
  
  Courts, the Central Government shall, having regard to the ends of the justice
  
  and the general convenience of the parties, determine which of the High Courts
  
  to the exclusion of others shall hear the cases against all the members.
  Explanation II: For the purposes of this section
  
  "member of the Institute" includes a person who was a member of the
  
  Institute on the date of the alleged misconduct although he has ceased to be a
  
  member of the Institute at the time of the inquiry.
  (8) For the purposes of any inquiry under this section, the Council
  
  and the Disciplinary Committee shall have the same powers as are vested in a
  
  civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of
  
  the following matters, namely,- 
  (a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of
  
  any person and examining him on oath;
  (b) the discovery and production of any
  
  document; and
  (c) receiving evidence on affidavit.