Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) issued a notification to allow CA aspirants to opt out of exams for this year due to the covid pandemic.
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court to quash this notification.
The petitioner stated that this is discriminatory move and is violative of Article 14 and Article 19 of the Constitution.
This can lead to students who are in Red zone to miss an entire year, whereas the privileged students not in the containment area to have an upper hand.
The PIL states:
“…Respondent No.1 ICAI has notified that for the students who choose OPT-OUT option, this attempt (May 2020) will be treated as cancelled / not counted. Thus, such student will be deprived of the May, 2020, attempt, as compared to other group of students, who choose OPT-IN option.”
It also states that against the 4.67 lakh students, there are only 259 centres. Such needs to increase in a considerable amount.
It states that each district ought to have one Centre and free commute should be provided to the aspirants.
It also states:
“The Petitioner is further seeking formulation and implementation of specific MHA guidelines for CA Examinations, free medical treatment to students infected during examination, amongst various other welfare measures.”
Alternatively, it pleads to postpone the Exam to a more plausible date.
Lawcutor 