SC: Those unable to take CA exam in July may do so in Nov

nNEWDELHI:THE Supreme Court on Monday assured lakhs of students appearing for the chartered accountancy examinations scheduled from July 29 that due to the Covid-19 situation, if any student fails to take all examinations, they will be given the benefit of appearing in the next cycle of tests in November this year.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar asked the examination conducting body - Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) - to come out with a notification specifying this provision by Thursday. The ICAI agreed to bring the proposed notification to Court following which it will be notified to all students.

Nearly 3.46 lakh students have registered to take the CA examinations scheduled from July 29. In view of the Covid-19 situation, the ICAI came out with an “Optout” scheme by which students could opt out of the examinations in July and attempt the same in November this year. Students had to indicate their preference for this scheme by June 29.

This scheme was challenged in Supreme Court by one Anubha Shrivastava Sahai who alleged that those going for ‘Opt-out’ should not be left at a disadvantage due to the situation.

ICAI, represented by senior counsel Ramji Srinivas, said that if any student is unable to take the examination, all examinations in that cluster will be cancelled and the student will have an option to take them in November. The court asked ICAI to ensure that the time to exercise Opt-out be extended by a week.

PTI The carcass of a 36-foot-long critically endangered whale washed ashore in the coastal belt of West Bengal’s East Midnapore on n Monday. Though the cause of its death is yet to be known, local officials familiar with the matter said that the carcass has injury marks over its tail and body. Whales are endangered Schedule-i species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in India.