The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed candidates scheduled to appear for the upcoming CA exams to opt out if they or their family members have suffered from Covid-19.

A three-judge bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Aniruddha Bose also made it clear that a candidate need not produce an RT-PCR test report if a medical certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner for his family members is produced along with a request for opting out.

“A candidate who has suffered Covid-19 personally or any of his family members …as a result of which he is unable to appear for the exam, or was disabled from preparing for the exam, is entitled to exercise the option of opting out. It will not be considered as an attempt. Such a candidate will be permitted to appear for the next examination for both the old and new syllabus,” the bench said.

For candidates affected by a lockdown during the exam, the apex court said according to an ICAI scheme they will also be allowed to opt out and it will not be treated as an attempt and the candidate will be allowed to appear in the next examination.