The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a plea requesting the postponement of specific papers for the Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams scheduled for May due to the Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, sitting on the bench, highlighted that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India had not scheduled the exams on election dates.
They observed that the general elections for the Lok Sabha are scheduled for May 7 and 13, and no exams are slated for May 6 and May 12. Changing the exam date would disrupt the extensive arrangements already made for the exams and could lead to unfairness for some students.
Refusing to entertain the PIL, the Supreme Court emphasized that the scheduling of exams falls under “policy decisions.”
“But weighing the importance of the right to vote we have examined the position of candidates who shall be appearing for exams and would also need to vote. 591 centres are there and no exams on polling dates. At this stage when 4 lakh plus students have enrolled, any relief at this stage would result in grave prejudice,” the CJI said.
The Chartered Accountancy exams are set to commence from May 2 and will run until May 17.
The plea requested the postponement of exams scheduled for May 8 and May 14 to alternate dates due to elections taking place in certain states on May 7 and May 13.
On April 8, the Delhi High Court declined to postpone the CA exams while addressing another plea.
The high court expressed surprise at the request and labeled the petition as ‘bereft of substance’.
The counsel representing the ICAI argued that rescheduling the exam in the second week of June would disrupt the entire process. They added that meticulous care had been taken to ensure that no exams were scheduled on dates coinciding with polling.