The Supreme Court, in its ruling on Monday, declined to entertain a plea seeking the postponement of certain papers of the Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams scheduled for May, citing the concurrent Lok Sabha polls. The bench, composed of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, highlighted that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) had not scheduled any exams on the election dates, specifically May 7 and 13.

The court emphasized that altering the exam dates at this juncture would disrupt the extensive arrangements already in place for the exams and could potentially lead to “grave injustice” for some students. The scheduling of exams, the court emphasized, is a matter of “policy decisions,” and thus, it declined to entertain the Public Interest Litigation (PIL). However, it acknowledged the importance of the right to vote and the position of candidates who would need to balance exams and voting.

Notably, there are 591 exam centers, and no exams are scheduled on polling dates. The bench expressed concern that any relief granted at this stage, with over four lakh students enrolled, could result in significant prejudice. The Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams are slated to commence from May 2 and continue until May 17.

The plea specifically sought the postponement of exams scheduled for May 8 and May 14, coinciding with elections in certain states. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed a similar plea on April 8, terming it “bereft of substance.” The court’s decision came after the counsel representing the ICAI highlighted that rescheduling the exams in the second week of June would disrupt the entire process, emphasizing that careful consideration had been given to avoiding exams on polling dates.

Source: PTI

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