The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has reprimanded CA. Pratik Kotecha of Kolkata, holding him guilty of professional misconduct under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 for being negligent in safeguarding digital signature (DSC).
The bench of CA. Rajendra Kumar P (Presiding Officer), Dolly Chakrabarty (IAAS, Retd.), (Government Nominee) and CA. Priti Savla (Member) has observed that the CA admitted to sharing his DSC with another individual, which constituted gross negligence. He failed to produce any evidence of filing a complaint or revoking the DSC upon learning of its misuse. His failure to update his official address and to appear before the investigating authorities obstructed the inquiry process. While no monetary loss to the government exchequer was reported, his negligence compromised the integrity of the digital filing system.
The matter originated from an investigation by the Registrar of Companies, West Bengal into transactions carried out after the 2016 demonetization drive. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had flagged suspicious activities of M/s Aacharan Sales Private Limited, a company alleged to be a shell entity engaged in entry operations without any substantial business or assets.
During scrutiny, it was noted that the tax audit reports of the company for FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 bore the signature of CA. Kotecha. When summoned in 2018, he allegedly failed to appear before investigators, leading to a complaint before ICAI.
CA. Kotecha denied any involvement in the audit of the said company and claimed that his digital signature certificate (DSC) had been misused by a senior Chartered Accountant, CA. Harish K. Gupta, with whom he had shared office space. He argued that he had no knowledge of the fraudulent filings and only became aware of the matter upon ICAI’s communication in 2024.
Kotecha also contended that notices sent in 2018 did not reach him, as he had shifted residence but failed to update his address with ICAI at that time. He maintained that he had always cooperated with ICAI and promptly provided information once he was aware of the complaint.
The Board concluded that such conduct amounted to “Other Misconduct” under Clause (2) of Part IV of the First Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
Taking into account his representation and the seriousness of the lapse, the Board of Discipline decided to reprimand CA. Pratik Kotecha under Section 21A(3) of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
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 has reprimanded CA. Pratik Kotecha of Kolkata, holding him guilty of professional misconduct under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 for being negligent in safeguarding digital signature (DSC). ){kind=link}