Impossible To Hold CLAT 2024 In Regional Languages, Will Prepare Roadmap For 'Eventual Introduction': Consortium Of NLUs To Delhi High Court

The Consortium of National Law Universities has told the Delhi High Court that it is a “near impossibility” to hold the CLAT 2024 examination, which is scheduled to take place in December, in regional languages.

However, the Consortium said that it will be able to prepare a well-considered roadmap for the “eventual introduction” of additional languages in the examination in the coming months after due deliberations.

“However, given the advanced stage of preparedness already for the upcoming CLAT 2024 examination (to be held in December 2023), any judicial order compelling the introduction of additional language options this year itself, without the benefit of the studies and deliberations being undertaken internally and without allowing for any time for consequential preparation to be made by the Respondent No. 1 on all the identified parameters, will cause grave prejudice to the Respondent No. 1,” the Consortium said.

The submissions have been made in a reply filed by the Consortium of NLUs opposing a public interest litigation to conduct CLAT-UG 2024 not only in English but also in other regional languages as mentioned in the eighth schedule of the Constitution of India.

The petition has been moved by Sudhanshu Pathak, who is a law student of Delhi University. He is represented by Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta along with Advocates Akash Vajpai and Sakshi Raghav.

The Consortium has said that its Advisory Board, together with the Governing Body and Executive Committee, will work together to navigate the “substantive and procedural issues” and prepare a roadmap for expanding the reach of the CLAT.

It added that the Advisory Board is scheduled to meet in August to discuss the issue of conducting the examination in regional languages, in the backdrop of the report being prepared presently by the Expert Committee of Vice- Chancellors.

“Respondent No. 1 is thus already actively engaging with the question of holding CLAT in scheduled language options, but the process is one that requires considerable planning and preparation, to avoid any grievances amongst the student community as to disparity in preparatory materials, failure to ensure parity in testing, and other issues which can compromise the integrity of the CLAT examination,” the Consortium said.

The matter was heard today by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma who directed the Consortium’s Expert Committee to consider the issue and to take a decision in their next meeting.

The matter will now be heard on September 01.

The plea states that the CLAT examination fails to provide a “level playing field” to the students whose educational backgrounds are rooted in regional languages.

It has been submitted that the practice of taking CLAT (UG) examination only in English language has an element of arbitrariness and discrimination and is violative of Articles 14 and 29(2) of Constitution of India.

The petitioner also places reliance on a recent survey conducted by IDIA Trust indicating that over 95% of the surveyed students came from schools where the medium of instruction was English, both at the secondary and higher secondary level.

It has also been submitted that the new Education Policy of 2020 and Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 require mother tongue to be the medium of instruction in schools and higher education institutions.

Title: SUDHANSHU PATHAK v. CONSORTIUM OF NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITIES THROUGH SECRETARY & ORS