Is it legal for a CA firm to retain original certificates from a trainee?

[Cooltiger9429]

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Cooltiger9429
PARTICIPANT
April 15, 2025 at 6:21 pm

Hi everyone,
I’m currently a trainee (intern) working in a CA firm in India. My employer asked me to submit my original educational certificates and said they would keep them during the training period. I refused because I was advised by my psychiatrist (and basic common sense) that you should never give original documents to any employer unless it’s just for verification.

Because of my refusal, they fired me.

I talked to a relative who is a lawyer, and surprisingly, they said this is “legal” and common practice. I feel confused and triggered because it feels completely unethical to me. I don’t want to accuse anyone wrongly—but I also don’t want to be manipulated into something that could harm me in the future.

Is it really legal for companies, especially CA firms, to keep original documents of interns/trainees?
Can I do anything about this?

Any legal clarification or advice would mean a lot. Thanks in advance.

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[Brightparvati5583]

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Brightparvati5583
PARTICIPANT
April 15, 2025 at 6:28 pm

As far as i know there’s no such rule from ICAI for retention of original documents and if you’re fired because you haven’t accepted that condition, please complain to ICAI they will take it seriously.

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[Silentrajnish997]

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Silentrajnish997
PARTICIPANT
April 15, 2025 at 7:12 pm

A company named Polaris software labs Ltd used to retain originals of degree certificates of employees and return them only after final settlement.
When I resigned, I had 16 days of leave available. They made it zero and asked me to pay one month’s pay as compensation to them for leaving without notice.
I simply walked away, approached the university and got duplicates.
Then sent a legal notice to Polaris with a demand for 15 lacs as compensation from them for lost opportunities.
They stopped that practice.

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