Almost 1,000 Chartered Accountancy aspirants have urged the Supreme Court to set aside the notification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) dated June 5, 2021 through which it had issued the date sheet of CA examination which are scheduled to be held in the month of July 2021.
The provisional application, inter-alia, filed by advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, seeks the following reliefs :-
- Quash and set aside the Exam notification issued by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India which is not having opt-out option and issue new notification providing opt out option for those willing to opt out before and during exam and carry forward all the benefits.
- Direction to ICAI to give an extra chance/extension, opt-out to those students who are appearing for Intermediate and Final Course examination under old syllabus
- Direction to the ICAI to increase the number of examination Centres of CA examination, May 2021 cycle, so as to provide at least one examination Centre in every district of India and to conduct examination in a staggered manner.
- Direction to the ICAI to grant fresh option to choose examination Centre to each such aspirant/student, pursuant to increase in the number of said examination Centre, without prejudice to the Centre already opted by him/her in lieu of the important announcements dated 05.06.2021 which is available from July 9, 2021 till July 11, 2021.
- Direcrionto ICAI to provide free transportation and free accommodation to the desirous students/aspirants of the captioned CA examination, May 2021 cycle during the period of July 6, 2021 to July 20, 2021 for Intermediate and final course and July 24, 2021 onwards for foundation course candidates near their respective examination Centers.
- Direction to the ICAI to issue necessary guidelines to the concerned authorities to treat the e- admit cards issued to the students/aspirants of the instant examination, as e-passes enable free movement of such students in all zones, including in containment zones, during their said examinations.
- Direction to the ICAI to provide for at least one stand-by examination Centre in a nearby location, for those examination Centres, which are likely to go into containment zone during the period of July 6, 2021 to July 20, 2021 and July 24, 2021 onwards.
- Direction to the ICAI to conduct mandatory free Covid-19 tests of all the students and also of the teachers, invigilators and staff deployed at the examination Centre and also vaccinate them and start vaccination drive.
- Direction to MHA and MoHFW to forthwith formulate and lay down separate, exclusive guidelines for conducting the said CA examinations.
- Direction to ICAI to postpone the instant Chartered Accountants examinations scheduled to commence from July 6, 2021 to any subsequent period, post normalization of Covid-19 crisis and till the completion of vaccination of the students, invigilators and other staff but the said exam of May 2021 cycle should not be taken alongwith November 2021 cycle exam.
The provisional application has been filed in the petition named “Anubha Srivastava Sahai Vs. ICAI.” The bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjiv Khanna had disposed of the said petition on July 13th 2020, after giving the direction that “the examination scheduled in July, 2020 has been cancelled, nothing survives for consideration in the present petition.
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Although, we intend to dispose of this petition, liberty is granted to the petitioner to make a representation in respect of other suggestions/issues which be decided by the ICAI on its own merits and in accordance with law expeditiously, preferably within four weeks from receipt of copy of the representation.