Select the correct indirect form of the given sentence.Mr Dutta, the…

The correct answer is Option (4) → Mr Dutta told the students that they could sit there till the rain stopped.

Changing a statement into indirect speech:

Change	Direct	Indirect	Why
Reporting verb	said to the students	told the students	A listener, the students, is named. So “said to” becomes “told”.
Joining word	“ ” (quotation marks)	that	A statement is joined with “that”.
Pronoun change	You	they	The students are spoken to, so “you” becomes “they”.
Tense change	can sit, stops	could sit, stopped	After the past “said”, “can” becomes “could” (could + base form (V1)). The simple present “stops” becomes the simple past “stopped”. The simple present is formed with the base form (V1), or V1 + s / es with he, she, it. The simple past is formed with the past form of the verb (V2).
Place word	here	there	The words are reported later, away from the canteen. So “here” becomes “there”.
Full sentence	Mr Dutta, the canteen owner, said to the students, “You can sit here till the rain stops.”	Mr Dutta told the students that they could sit there till the rain stopped.

“May” becomes “might” in the same way. Example: Leela said, “The bus may be late.” → Leela said that the bus might be late.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: Mr Dutta told the students that they can sit there till the rain stopped. — Incorrect. “Can” is kept. After the past “said” it must become “could”.

Option 2: Mr Dutta told the students that they could sit here till the rain stopped. — Incorrect. “Here” is left unchanged. In the report it becomes “there”.

Option 3: Mr Dutta told the students that you could sit there till the rain stopped. — Incorrect. “You” is left unchanged. The students are the people spoken to, so it must become “they”.