Supreme Court cancels online AoR exam after technical glitches mar first paper; exam to be held offline this year

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to cancel the online mode of giving the Advocate-on-Record (AoR) exam after the first such exam held on Monday was marred by technical glitches. .The Chief Justice of India (CJI) has now decided that all papers for the AoR exam will be held physically this year, sources told Bar & Bench.Around 120 candidates who appeared for the exam today via online mode faced technical issues with many candidates unable to write or submit the answer sheets due to computer malfunctions.While some could not commence their paper, others were able to write for around 2.5 hours before their computers crashed.The sources added that each candidate will now get one hour extra each paper, and the physical (pen and paper) exams for all will now be held afresh at the Judges' library at the apex court's additional building complex.The paper for today's exam was 'Practice and Procedure' and the online exam was held at the Guru Hargobind Institute of Management & Information Technology at Anand Vihar in the national capital.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) in a letter to the Supreme Court secretary general has stated that any decision to now hold the exam in physical mode tomorrow would be "unreasonable" since those who prepared for online exam cannot suddenly be asked to move to a paper based exam. .Further, SCAORA in its letter said that the venue for online exam did not have proper ventilation which left aspirants profusely sweating throughout the exam. .SCAORA has requested the secretary general to take up the issue at the earliest with the CJI so that a positive solution can be worked out..Update: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud after an urgent meeting held on June 11 made a modification; aspirants who already wrote the offline exam without glitches need not retake paper-1 of the examination in physical form..President of SCAORA Vipin Nair and Honorary Secretary Nikhil Jain appreciated the "speed" with which CJI Chandrachud found an "amicable solution" to the problem after the association highlighted the issues faced by aspirants who have already appeared for the pen and paper exam. .[Read Notifications]