New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday granted time to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to contact all the centres and check whether it can conduct chartered accountancy examination for May 2020 cycle scheduled in July-August amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna also reminded the ICAI of its observation in last hearing that the ground situation is ‘dynamic and not static’. The bench adjourned the hearing till July 10 after the ICAI sought time to assess the feasibility of conducting exams.
During the hearing, Ramji Srinivasan appearing for ICAI submitted in the court that there are operational problems in holding July CA examination due to spike of COVID-19. He also submitted that the number of cases has risen substantially and many states have recorded a spike in the last few days.
The ICAI also informed the court that it is mindful of a spike in COVID-19 cases in various states and might not go ahead with the examination. The ICAI will inform the apex court about its final decision regarding the exams July 10 after consulting the states.
Significantly, the Supreme Court had earlier asked the ICAI to be flexible and not be rigid towards the examination pattern given the current situation. The bench had asked the ICAI to consider extending the deadline for opt-out option till the last week of the exams.
It is to be mentioned here that the CA examinations for May 2020 are scheduled to be held between July 29 and August 16. In relation to these examinations, the ICAI had issued notifications on June 15 and June 20 notifying the ‘opt-out’ option.
A petition was filed in the Apex court by Anubha Shrivastava Sahai seeking quashing of the notification.
The petitioner contended that the opt-out option would lead to the underprivileged and unfortunate aspirants living in remote areas or in red zones amid COVID-19 to lose out on a precious year. While those aspirants who are fortunate to live in big cities and have means to access examination centres will have the benefit of attending exams, the petition contended.
Terming the opt-out option in violation of fundamental rights, the petitioner had urged the Apex court to quash the notifications regarding the opt-out option and said that it violates rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
