ICAI CA Exam 2021: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to “look into all aspects and consider a competent authority to certify that a participant in the CA exam has been tested for COVID-19”. Unable to appear in the exam due to related issues. This exam is to be conducted in July.
The court said that the RT-PCR report can be negative, may not fully reflect the health of a person as the effect of corona virus can be felt for months.
The court said that ICAI should look into all aspects as the matter pertains to giving option to leave the examination to those who cannot appear in the examination due to issues related to COVID-19.
The CA exams to be conducted by ICAI in May were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are now scheduled to be conducted from July 5 to 20.
When a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar was told that this would be the last chance for the participants under the old syllabus and the option to skip the exam would be given to only those people whose RT-PCR test report mentions the infection. , then he made this comment.
Besides Justice Khanwilkar, the bench also comprises Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Aniruddha Bose.
The bench said, “The condition of getting infected in the RT-PCR test can be very difficult. People who have recovered from Covid can still be shown to be infected.
Those who have recovered may have long-term problems. There are different circumstances.”
The apex court was hearing petitions related to the examination in which several requests were made to give option to the participants to leave the examination, postpone the examination and increase the number of centers this year.
During the hearing held through video conference, the bench said that there have also been cases where the infection was not found in the RT-PCR test, but the symptoms of Kovid are seen in the person.
The bench told senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan, appearing for ICAI, “We are asking you to consider evolving a policy and identify a competent authority who can certify that a participant has appeared in the examination due to COVID related reasons. Unable to sit.”
Srinivasan said the ICAI would issue a notification on the issue raised by the court.
The bench asked Srinivasan to prepare a short note on various issues including the RT-PCR test and file it by evening. The bench said that the matter be listed for tomorrow so that the counsel for the institution can present a brief note on the issues raised in the court today.
