Students who opted-out of CA exam in July will not lose opportunity: ICAI to SC

Candidates who optedout of the CA exam conducted in July because of Covid19 related difficulties will not lose any opportunity the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ICAI told the Supreme Court on ThursdayThe apex court which was hearing an application seeking a direction to the ICAI to conduct back up examination for optout candidates asked the applicants to make a representation on this to the instituteA bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar was told by ICAIs counsel that an appropriate decision will be taken on the representation within two weeksSenior advocate Ramji Srinivasan appearing for the institute told the bench that there will be no loss of opportunity to candidates who had optedout from the July exam as per the top court orderldquoIn July itself we had said those candidates who have optedout pursuant to your lordships leave will have their back up in November 2021 along with the main cycle It will not be treated as an attempt and they will not lose any benefits They will get the benefit of the same old syllabusrdquo Srinivasan told the bench which also comprised Justices Hrishikesh Roy and C T RavikumarAlso Read CA candidates can opt out if they suffered from Covid19 Supreme CourtIn its June 30 order the top court had said a candidate shall be entitled to exercise the option of optingout of the exam if he or she or any family member has suffered Covid19 in the recent past and the fact is certified by a registered medical practitionerThat will not be considered as an attempt in the examination as such and the candidate will be permitted to appear in the back up examination to be conducted for the old as well as the new syllabus subject to conducive situation prevailing at the relevant time the court had saidDuring the hearing on Thursday advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the applicants referred to the June 30 order about back up examination and said those who had optedout would essentially lose one attemptldquoThey ICAI should be directed to hold a back up examination instead of saying that you appear in the regular exam cyclerdquo Bhushan said adding that from next year the syllabus will be newldquoLet me assuage the apprehensions of my friend There will be no loss of opportunity to people who had optedoutrdquo Srinivasan saidOn the issue of holding back up exam he said there were logistical problems in last year and the institute needs about five to six months to prepare for examinationThe bench told Srinivasan that these candidates can appear in the November examination but asked whether it was possible to conduct one more examination under the old syllabusSrinivasan assured the bench that no candidate will lose his or her opportunityThe bench said for the time being it is not disturbing the examination cycle and the ICAI can take appropriate decision on the representation to be filed by the applicantsldquoYou make representation The institute is very open to all suggestionsrdquo the bench told BhushanBhushan said the institute should consider having backup examination even if they have it after NovemberThe bench observed it will not force them to have backup examination as the ICAI has given up this idea due to its experienceldquoWe dont wish to continue this petition in view of the stand taken by the institute that all aspects brought to the notice of the institute will be taken into account and appropriate decision which is in the best interest of the candidates will be take provided the same is consistent with the policy and extant rulesrdquo the bench said in its orderThe bench permitted the applicants to make representation to the ICAIIn its June 30 order the apex court had made clear that a candidate need not produce RTPCR test if medical certificate issued by registered medical practitioners for his family members is produced along with request for opting out of the July examinationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever