Petition filed in the SC urging the ICAI to Conduct a Back-up Exam for students who Opted Out

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has been asked to conduct a back-up exam for individuals who opted out, according to a plea filed in the Supreme Court.

The application was submitted by CA students through Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who stated that the Supreme Court has ordered a backup exam to be held for those candidates who may be unable to compete in the July 2021 CA exams, in order to ensure that no applicant suffers as a result of COVID-19.

The applicant claims that the ICAI’s announcement violates the spirit of the Supreme Court’s judgement because, rather than providing an alternative option, it has scheduled the Main examination for November 2021, when the exam is generally held as a backup. As a result, the candidates are effectively denied an alternative option, as the Court has ordered.

It was also stated that the ICAI had administered the November 2020 examinations in two cycles, November 2020 and January 2021, the previous year. As a result, ICAI should conduct the tests in two cycles again this year, the first in July 2021 and the second in the months leading up to November 2021, so that COVID-19 impacted candidates do not forfeit their November 2021 attempt.

A three-judge bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice JK Maheshwari adjourned for one week a petition filed by candidates who had opted out of the July 2021 attempt, requesting that the ICAI conduct a back-up exam or second cycle of the July 2021 attempt before November 2021 for those who had opted out of the July 2021 attempt.