Mr. Arpit, a newly qualified Chartered Accountant, started his practice and sought clients through telephone calls from his family and friends,…

As per Clause (6) of Part I of the First Schedule of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, a Chartered Accountant in practice is deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct if he solicits clients or professional work either directly or indirectly by circular, advertisement, personal communication or interview or by any other means. Mr. Arpit is wrong in seeking clients through family and friends. Creating a website does not constitute a non-compliance provided it is in line with the Guidelines issued by the Institute in this regard. One such guideline specifies that the website should not be in push mode. Furthermore, mentioning the names of clients is also prohibited under these Guidelines. In the given situation, Mr. Arpit shared the website address on all his social media posts and stories and tagged 30 traders of his local community with the caption "Easy Online Stock Certification Services” mentioning his current clients as well. This is in complete contravention of the Guidelines on the website issued by the ICAI. Thus, CA Arpit would be held guilty of professional misconduct under clause 6 of Part I of First Schedule of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.