A couple of days back, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) had announced that the CA Foundation examination will be held in the last week of July, instead of June, owing to the ongoing pandemic. However, despite this, a lot of aspirants across the country have been demanding a postponement of inter and final exams. In fact, on Wednesday, a group of 987 students from 20 states and three Union Territories moved a PIL in the Supreme Court, seeking a further postponement.
The plea was filed by Anubha Srivastava Sahai, a Mumbai-based lawyer who heads the India Wide Parents Association. One of the prayers in the plea is to provide an 'opt-out' option for the aspirants, allowing them to carry forward the benefits in the upcoming session. A few other prayers include vaccinating the aspirants, provide at least one examination centre in a district, free transport to examination centres and free accommodation nearby. The petition is yet to be listed.
However, does the petition hold any merit? Legal experts do not think so. A lawyer practising in the Supreme Court told EdexLive that the apex court may not entertain the petition. "The case was similar last year. This is because, these aspirants haven't made a formal representation to the ICAI yet," she says. Last year, a petition that had similar prayers were dismissed by a bench. "These students appearing for professional examinations and they should gear up themselves and not ask for such concessions," the court then noted.