The recently conducted CA IPCC Advanced Accounts examination by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) sparked a controversy as it mentioned the abbreviated names of two of the country’s most recognisable political figures – Namo and Raga (Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi respectively) – in the question paper.
The advanced accounting examination conducted on June 6 mentioned two companies, “Namo Ltd. took over Raga Ltd in an amalgamation in the nature of merger”.
As reported by MumbaiMirror, the question was, “All the bills receivable held by Raga Ltd were Namo Ltd’s acceptances. On April 1, 2011, Namo Ltd took over Raga Ltd in an amalgamation in the nature of merger. It was agreed that in the discharge of consideration for the business, Namo Ltd would allot three fully paid equity shares of Rs 10 each at par for every two shares held in Raga Ltd. It was also agreed that 12 per cent debentures in Raga Ltd would be converted into 13 per cent debentures in Namo Ltd of the same amount and denomination. Pass journal entries in the books of Namo Ltd and Prepare Namo Ltd balance sheet.”
This called for a debate as ICAI is an independent body and not politically aligned to any party. Initially the incident was taken as a lighthearted spoof by students but later turned into a controversy.
Reacting on the situation, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said. “It was motivated by politics. Educational institutes should be free of politics. This is a clear political agenda and we condemn it. There was no need to introduce political names in the question paper.”
On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said that ICAI should address this issue.
Meanwhile, when the publication tried to contact the institute authorities, Dugesh Kabra, member of the examination committee of ICAI, said the names were not deliberately introduced. “We have no political affiliations. The ICAI was formed under the Parliament Act. It is difficult to find out as who put this question as the setting of a question paper goes through multiple layers.”
