ICAI SUBMITS BEFORE THE APEX COURT THAT OPT-OUT OPTION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS WHO RECENTLY SUFFERED FROM COVID-19 AND ARE YET TO RECOVER

Institute for Chartered Accountants of India informed the Apex court that it is ready to extend its opt-out option with the upcoming Chartered Accountant exams to those candidates (both old and new syllabus) who have recently suffered from Covid 19 and is yet to recover from the same and are consequently unable to appear.

In a note submitted before the Supreme court, the ICAI stated that students/candidates seeking the opt-out option would have to produce a medical certificate of having recently suffered from Covid 19 by a registered medical practitioner. The medical certificate shall be produced along with a relevant RTPCR report.

This opt-out option is in addition to the current opt-out option, which is available to candidates in case he/she or his/her family is residing in a Covid 19 infected premises on or after 21st June 2021.

The ICAI further stated that the opt-out option would also be given in case of any logistic or operational changes in the examination centre. However, this is only applicable in the case of inter-city changes. The ICAI made it clear that it is not possible to waive articleship as it is job training to equip students with such skills required during CA practice.

Lastly, ICAI submitted that all invigilators and supervisors at the examination centre would have to follow covid 19 norms such as a mask and social distancing. Also, all the examination functionaries shall carry Arogya Sethu App with No Risk Status on their Mobile phones.

BACKGROUND

ICAI submitted the note before the Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose after the bench asked ICAI to come up with a policy where a competent authority can issue a medical certificate, stating the reason for non-appearance for the examination.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal