Supreme Court has allowed ICAI to conduct CA exams from July 5
Supreme Court of India has allowed the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to conduct Chartered Accountant (CA) examinations scheduled from July 5. However, the top court laid down a few conditions in regards to opt-out of the exam due to COVID-19. Candidates who have suffered personally or their family members are affected can be certified by a medical practitioner and be allowed to opt-out and it should not be considered as an attempt, the bench of Justices AM Khanwilkara, Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose said.
Supreme Court was hearing the petitions seeking exam postponement, opt-out options, more centres, and an extra chance.
Candidates need not produce RT PCR report if they produce a certificate from a Doctor on Covid, the bench said. ICAI had earlier insisted on an RTPCR report besides a doctor's certificate.
If any candidate contracts the virus during the examination and is unable to appear for other papers, he or she will be allowed to opt-out and it (the attempt) should not be treated as an attempt, the Court said.
ICAI must permit the candidate to opt-out of the exam in case of a last-minute change of examination centre, the top court ordered. It shall not be counted as an attempt by the candidate for counting the limit to appear in exams, it added.
The Supreme Court rejected ICAI's suggestion that the opt-out option will not be provided if there is a change of examination centre within the city.
The Court's orders come on petitions on opt-out options for those infected with COVID or their family members.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that it will not pass any directions to postpone the ICAI CA exam 2021 scheduled to commence in July.
The Court, however, agreed to consider the plea for granting opt-out for students who won't be able to appear for the exam on account of COVID-19 restrictions.