The Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 29, asked Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to consider opt out options for the students affected by Covid-19. The examination will be held between July 5 and 20 from 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM.

The ICAI CA Intermediate, Final May 2021 exams were earlier deferred due to the worsening Covid-19 crisis.

As per a report by Livelaw, a Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose observed that the Covid-19 can cause long term health issues and hence a mere negative result in the RT-PCR certificate may not reflect the fitness of the candidate.

The Bench has directed ICAI to opt for alternate options for the condition of RT-PCR certificate and more.

Examiners and invigilators, however, have been asked to do the RT-PCR test before the examination. Vaccination is not compulsory.

The Bench also mentioned that logistics, transport and accommodation are the responsibilities of students and asked whether students who get infected in the middle of examinations will be allowed to give the remaining papers in the November cycle of examinations.

As per a report by Hindustan Times, the bench asked ICAI to file its reply in the course of the day and the final hearing will be held on Wednesday.

The petitions were filed by Satya Narain Perumal, Anubha Shrivastava Sahai and third by a group of CA aspirants demanding moderation in the Standard Operation Procedure issued for the exams among other reliefs.