Delhi HC Dismisses Petition Regarding Postponement of CA Inter, Final Exams Due to General Elections

The Delhi High Court has dismissed the petition regarding the postponement of the ICAI CA Inter and Final exams for the May 2024 session. Candidates who are set to appear in the exams urged the ICAI to postpone the exams due to the 18th Lok Sabha polls. The institute had earlier revised the CA Inter and Final exam dates, however, aspirants demanded a further revision of the schedule and filed a petition at the Delhi High Court. The HC has dismissed the plea, reported Hindustan Times.

More than 4 lakh candidates are set to appear for the inter and final exams. According to the petitioners, they may face transportation issues due to the elections. Replying to the plea, the bench said, “You want the CA exams to be postponed? Is there some law that says there can’t be any exams during Lok Sabha elections? You have no business to be CA if you can’t study due to election,” the report added.

According to the schedule revised by ICAI due to the general elections, the CA Inter Group 1 exams are set to be conducted on May 3, 5, and 9. It was earlier slated to be held on May 7. The Group 2 exams will be held on May 11, 15, and 17. It was earlier scheduled for May 9, 11, and 13. The Final Group 1 exams will take place on May 2, 4, and 8. It was slated to take place on May 6, and the Group 2 exams will be held on May 10, 14, and 16 instead of the earlier announced dates of May 8, 10, and 12.

“It may further be noted that there would be no change in the examination schedule in the event of any day of the examination schedule mentioned above, being declared a Public Holiday by the Central Government or any State Government / Local Authority,” reads the official notice by ICAI.

Meanwhile, the ICAI had earlier announced that the Foundation and Inter exams will be held thrice a year. Till now, it has been administered twice a year. Central Council Member (CCM) of the ICAI, Dhiraj Khandelwal, announced the same on microblogging site X. “Welcoming move by the ICAI to bring a beneficial change in favour of the CA student fraternity by introducing CA examinations thrice a year for CA Foundation and CA Inter level. Further Updates shall be clarified by the ICAI soon,” he said.