A view of the High Court of Karnataka.

The High Court of Karnataka restrained Bengaluru-based Institute of Chartered Tax Practitioners India (ICTPI) from enrolling candidates into any course, certifying any person to practise as an income-tax or goods and services tax practitioner and custom broker, etc., till further orders from the court.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the interim order on a petition filed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which has complained that ICTPI is offering courses illegally.

The court specifically restrained the ICTPI from enrolling candidates in Post Graduate Diploma in Taxation, Professional Skill Qualification, Recognition for Prior Learning and similar courses in relation to tax practice, etc.

The court also restrained ICTPI from enrolling any person or body under the category of affiliates, associates, fellows, honorary and academic for the purpose of offering any courses relating to tax laws and related courses or for issuance of any licences, certificates, etc.

While contending that “ICTPI appears to have created fictitious courses to offer to the general public without any legal recognition,” the ICAI has said that the Ministry of Finance, the Registrar of Companies and the University Grants Commission have not taken any action against the ICTPI despite submitting several representations about the alleged illegal activities of ICTPI, which is a company registered under Section 8 (formulation of companies with charitable objects, etc) of the Companies Act, 2013.

“The courses offered by the ICTPI are in contravention of Section 15A of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, which restricts universities or bodies from offering courses in the field of education dealt with by the petitioner institute. The ICTPI is prescribing courses on its whims and fancy to mislead the general public that is, in fact, a legitimate degree offered by it to the students under a statute, which is not the case,” the ICAI claimed in its petition.

The ICAI has stated in the petition a large number of candidates are paying thousands of rupees from their head-earned monies in the form of fees to enrol for the unauthorised courses, being unaware of the courses offered by ICTPI.

Pointing out that the name of ICTPI is almost identical and similar to the name of the petitioner-institute, it has been stated in the petition that this gives a misleading impression to the public at large that ICTPI is related to or somehow affiliated/associated with ICAI.