Supreme Court to hear on November 2 plea seeking guidelines for holding CA exams

The Supreme Court today said that it will hear on November 2 a plea seeking a standard operating procedure to be adopted for the Chartered Accountant (CA) exams by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) this year..The CA exams for this round are scheduled to begin on November 21..The Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna heard the petition filed by some CA aspirants today. The petitioners have claimed that with the exams scheduled to begin in less than a month, ICAI has not taken adequate steps for holding of the exams in line with health guidelines issued amid the COVID-19 pandemic..The Court today asked the petitioners, represented by Advocates Bansuri Swaraj and Astha Sharma, to serve a copy of the plea to ICAI and the Centre. The matter will be heard on November 2..Earlier, a PIL had been moved before the Supreme Court assailing ICAI's notification of an 'opt out' option for CA aspirants. The present plea says that the concerned authorities have not taken steps for ensuring the health concerns of the stakeholders..The plea says that a significantly higher number of candidates are expected to take the exam in this round on account of the May cycle of exams standing cancelled. This fact, along with the cap of 100 persons for congregations imposed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, gives rise to the concerns of the petitioners..The ICAI had refused to acknowledge the cap imposed on large gatherings when a query on this issue was raised by a stakeholder, the plea states. ....pertinently, at present, no safety guidelines have been issued by ICAI that determine the manner in which ICAI would be conducting the exams in the month of November, 2020 which would ensure the safety of the candidates amidst the ongoing pandemic and inter alia effectively control overcrowding of candidates at the exam centers."Plea filed in Supreme Court.The plea calls for uniform safety guidelines to be put in place across the country, and prays that all candidates taking the exam be provided with equal facilities..While pointing out that the ICAI is yet to notify the safety guidelines and SOP for proper implementation of these guidelines, the plea also makes a suggestion as regards symptomatic candidates. It is suggested that isolation rooms may be provided in each exam centre, and that symptomatic candidates be given an opportunity to take the exam at a later stage..The plea also suggests that the ICAI must factor in the possibility of a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, and prepare a mitigation plan for the same. It also states that while additional exam centres are required to be set up, travel and accommodation facilities must also be provided for candidates expected to travel for the exam..It is further pointed out that an option for candidates to change their exam centres within the same city is not provided as yet..The Supreme Court had earlier observed that the ICAI should consider permitting the students to opt out of the exams till the last day, as the situation around COVID-19 is dynamic and not static..ICAI had informed the Supreme Court in July of its decision not to hold exams for the May 2020 exam cycle that were scheduled to be held in July-August "in the interest of the students"..The Institute had decided that in the interest of the candidates, it would merge the May 2020 exam attempt with November 2020 Examinations.