Sharad Dhagge and Shailesh Jhawar are partners in the DJ and Company (Company Secretarial firm). They have got the Secretarial Audit assignment of MNL Limited, a manufacturing company. Abhilash (Trainee) was appointed fo

Clause (2) of Part I of the second schedule to the Company Secretaries (CS) Act, 1980 provides that a Company Secretary in Practice shall be deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct, if he- "certifies or submits in his name or in the name of his firm a report of an examination of the matters relating to Company Secretarial practice and related statements unless the examination of such statements has been made by him or by a partner or any employee in his firm or by another Company Secretary in practice." This clause is intended to imbibe in a member in practice, a higher degree of responsibility and care while certifying any fact or a statement. Either he himself or his partner or any employee of his firm should have examined what is being certified. The words "or by another Company Secretary in Practice" used in this clause envisage a situation where the responsibility for the certification is undertaken by a Company Secretary in Practice, who is neither a partner nor an employee of the Company Secretary concerned, for an examination done by another member in Practice. This clause prohibits PCS from certifying or submitting in his name a report of an examination of the matters relating to company secretarial practice unless the examination of such statements has been made by him or by a partner or by an employee in his firm or by another Company Secretary in Practice. Trainees working in the office of PCS are not to be considered as his employees for the purpose of this item. In the given case, Shailesh Jhawar, PCS has not himself verified the documents nor his partner or employee has checked the documents. He has signed and certified the Secretarial Audit Report of MNL Limited based on inputs received from his trainee and without cross checking of documents, which is a professional misconduct under the CS Act, 1980. Hence, in the given case, the act of Shailesh Jhawar PCS is not appropriate.