Adds another actuary, "This is not the first time ASI has relaxed the eligibility norms for issuance of certificate of practice. The ASI had issued the certificate for other actuaries earlier with similar qualifications."

According to one view, the issuing certificate of practice is entirely in the domain of ASI. In this case, the certificate was granted by a special committee in a two to one decision, which is legally valid and IRDA does not need to look any further.

Responding to Khan's second charge an ASI official says, "It is nothing but natural to start an important event with an invocation. The president mooted the idea of singing the Saraswathi Vandhana as ASI is an educational institution. The idea was dropped when Khan objected."

Many actuaries feel that ASI has been functioning as a secular institution. No member raised any objection when Khan ended his articles in the institute magazine The Actuary with the slogan Insha Allah.

On the controversy surrounding the cancellation of Lahore as examination centre, ASI blames Khan. According to ASI, decisions on examination centres are taken by its examination board and not by the president alone. The board was not aware about Khan's commitment to have Lahore as an examination centre. It was only Karachi that ASI was considering officially. Moreover, with the number of Pakistani students being small two centres were not warranted. In the first place, Lahore was never an examination centre, so the question of cancellation does not arise, remarks an official.

Similarly the exam application forms of Bangladeshi students were rejected as they had not paid their membership and examination fees.

ASI office bearers also complain that Khan kept the professional body in the dark on commitments made by him. "Khan did not brief either Dr Kannan or others in ASI about pending matters while handing over charge as outgoing president." However Khan denies the charge.

It seems Khan has bitten more than he can chew when he complained. For one, he has lost the support of entire executive committee.

Many actuaries in ASI are rattled by his indirect charge that Dr Kannan has a communal agenda. "Most of us are normal professionals without any backing. We couldn't have handled such serious but baseless charges if it was brought against us by a senior professional," voices an appointed actuary.

As Dr Kannan has also become IRDA's member (actuarial), since 18 December, 2006, and will hold office for five years, actuaries / actuarial consulting firms do not want to be seen in the opposite camp.

"But is there not a clear case of conflict of interest when one person holds two related offices - president ASI and member (Actuarial) of the IRDA simultaneously," Khan queries.

It is learnt that Dr Kannan did offer to resign soon after he became member (Actuarial) IRDA, but the executive committee requested him to continue, as ASI is in transition towards becoming a statutory institute and he did not seem to want to disturb the status quo.

Early this January, Khan was formally removed from ASI's executive committee for not attending three consecutive meetings of the governing council. He also quit as vice chairman and chief actuary, Watson Wyatt India Private Limited. "You don't have to read too much between the lines. I have quit the job on health grounds," he explains. However, he continues to be the appointed actuary for ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, Mumbai.

He is now consulting his lawyers to file a public interest litigation on the happenings in ASI.