Plea Filed Against NLSIU’s Decision to Hold Separate Entrance Exam

Petitioners say introducing a new exam pattern just days ahead of the test is unfair.

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Five Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) aspirants have moved the Jharkhand High Court challenging the decision of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, to conduct a separate entrance test for admissions to undergraduate and post-graduate courses at the leading law university, reports LiveLaw.

The petitioners contend that NLSIU’s decision to withdraw from CLAT is unconstitutional and arbitrary as the leading law school is a permanent member of the NLU Consortium.

They also argue that bringing about a new exam pattern just days ahead of exams is inimical to principles of a “fair and just examination.”

On 3 September, NLSIU, Bangalore had said that will not accept the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) scores this academic year and will instead conduct its own National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT).

Originally scheduled on on 10 May, CLAT 2020 has been postponed for the fifth time to the end of September, amid the coronavirus pandemic. This, NLS Bangalore says, lead to a sense of uncertainty among students, parents, and participating universities.

According to NLS Bangalore, since it follows a trimester model in which a year is divided into three terms, each comprising 90 days, repeated postponement of CLAT 2020 has left the law school ‘uniquely disadvantaged’.

If admissions are delayed beyond September, NLS Bangalore says that it will inevitably lead to a ‘Zero Year’, where no admission can take place. This, it feels, would “deprive law students of the opportunity to pursue their studies this year at India’s premier law university.”