Covid-19 effect: CA exams scheduled for July stand cancelled, ICAI tells SC
Chartered Accountancy exams have been re-scheduled for NovemberAn apex court bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar had on 30 June asked Icai to to consider permitting the ‘opt out’ option for the CA examination till the last date of the exam
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (Icai) informed the Supreme court on Monday that it will not hold Chartered Accountancy exams (CA) scheduled to take place in July, due to the covid-19 pandemic. The exams have been re-scheduled to be held in November.
An apex court bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, on 30 June had asked Icai to to consider permitting the ‘opt out’ option for the CA examination till the last date of the exam.
Earlier, CA students who wanted to opt out of the exam—scheduled to be held from 29 July to 16 August—had to do it by 30 June. Those who opted out were allowed to appear for the same examination in November.
An India-wide parents’ association had filed the petition challenging the “opt-out" scheme and sought directions for more centers to be set up to conduct the CA examination.
Icai had said the May 2020 cycle CA examination will begin on 29 July. On 15 June, it notified students that they can avail the opt-out option till 30 June.
The petitioners contended that this was highly discriminatory and arbitrary as the situation with respect to the covid-19 pandemic was changing by the day, and Icai should be more flexible to allow students to choose the opt-out option till the last day.
The Supreme court bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna, on a previous date of hearing had observed that the pandemic situation is not static but quite dynamic; hence, the option to opt out should be kept open till the last exam.
Senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan, representing Icai, had argued that a limited window for opting out was necessary to ascertain the number of students appearing for the exams, as things would be arranged accordingly. He added that about 53,000 students have already chosen the opt-out scheme.
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