The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea seeking Opt-Out Option for Symptomatic Students Without RT-PCR Report.
The Chartered Accountancy (CA) aspirant has moved the Supreme Court of India seeking various directions to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) regarding the December 2021 cycle of CA Foundation, Intermediate and Final exams.
The petitioner, Sanjeev K Arora, has also requested not to make RT PCR reports mandatory for Covid symptomatic students, and instead consider medical certificates sufficient for opting out of the December cycle and taking the test in the next cycle of CA exam. The petitioner has requested alternative arrangements in isolation rooms for Covid symptomatic students to appear in the exam.
The petition mentions that “Insistence on RTPCR report (within 72 hours) for the examination scheduled to be held from 05.12.2021 to 19.12.2021, is impracticable and unfeasible for students preparing to write the exams as the examination cycle lasts for 15 days and not a single day stint and it is impracticable to get RTPCR report after every 2nd exam.”
The petition also points out that as per the exam day guidelines and policies presented by the ICAI, any candidate exhibiting body temperature beyond the prescribed limit will be barred from entering the examination hall. In such a situation, it would be very difficult for the candidates to produce a positive RT-PCR report within 72 hours. Furthermore, this rule also makes it impossible for those candidates who are suffering from non-COVID-19 related fever and other symptoms to appear for the exam despite their willingness to do so.
The bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar while expressing its disinclination to entertain the application in their order said, “We are not inclined to entertain the application. It will be open to the authorities to make amendments if and when necessary.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court directed the ICAI to modify the rules to provide the opt-out facility to students. Covid-affected candidates can opt out from the May/July 2021 cycle of ICAI exam, the top court had said, adding that they do not need to produce an RT PCR report if they can submit a medical certificate.
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