Today, the Supreme Court of India is set to hear a petition urging for the postponement of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams.
As per the official website of the Supreme Court of India, https://main.sci.gov.in/, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud will be hearing the plea, along with Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra today, Monday, April 29.
A group of students filed the petition on April 16 seeking the postponement of exams as election-related activities during the ongoing Lok Sabha Election 2024 might hinder their preparation.
This comes after the Delhi High Court had on April 8 dismissed a petition filed by 16 CA students demanding exam postponement.
The petitioners have shared that the upcoming hearing holds significant importance for approximately 4,46,000 CA students who are earnestly seeking redressal for their concerns.
Let us look into the timeline of events leading up to the big hearing today, Monday, April 29.
January 25, 2024: ICAI releases official notice with dates for Inter and Final CA exams to be held in May and Foundation exams in June 2024
“It is pertinent to mention that General Election to 18th Lok Sabha are scheduled to be held in 2024, notification for which is awaited. Accordingly, Examination Committee may reschedule May 2024 CA Examination, if the dates of General Election coincide with the present Examination Schedule,” the notice said.
March 16, 2024: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the 18th Lok Sabha elections, announcing that the same would be conducted between April 19 and June 1 in multiple phases.
Senior CAs, educators and CA students expect postponement of the CA Inter and Final exams due to scheduling conflicts.
March 19, 2024: ICAI releases revised dates for CA exams to ensure there is no clash between the polling days and exam dates.
However, it only rescheduled two papers that were clashing with election dates instead of postponing the exams.
Students and parents expressed dissatisfaction with the revised schedule saying that it would affect the CA aspirants and most of them will not be able to participate in the upcoming general elections.
March 20, 2024: Students launch social media campaigns demanding the postponement of the exams citing that they will not be able to practice their democratic right due to scheduling conflicts.
The campaign received support from several senior CAs, and activists. A group of students also drafted a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission urging them to intervene in the matter.
March 27, 2024: ICAI releases notice allowing students to change their preferred exam centres amid the backlash from students.
April 4, 2024: A group of 16 aspiring CAs, from different states, approach the Delhi High Court seeking postponement of the examinations.
April 8, 2024: Delhi High Court dismisses petition seeking postponement of the May session of Chartered Accountancy (CA) Intermediate and Final exams.
“Mere fact that candidates taking the exam may face hardship in undertaking the exam cannot be a ground for the court to derail the exam which is to be taken by approx 4.26,000 aspirants. This court is surprised that such a request has been made,” the bench observed.
April 16, 2024: CA candidates file a fresh petition in the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the exams.
April 17, 2024: ICAI releases admit cards for the CA Inter and Final exams being held in May 2024.
Several candidates took to social media following the notification alleging that they had been assigned exam centres far away from their residences.
April 19, 2024: The plea by CA students gets registered in the Supreme Court. Aspirants claim they are better prepared this time.
April 24, 2024: The CA postponement petition gets a computer-generated tentative hearing date on April 29 on the official Supreme Court website.
Meanwhile, aspirants claim that the ICAI has been making last-minute changes in their exam centres, causing confusion among the student community.
April 25, 2024: The CA candidates get a fixed hearing date on April 29, 2024.
Now, the future of the CA exams is yet to be decided. For now, the exams are scheduled to take place between May 2 to 17, 2024.
