Consortium Of NLUs Expresses 'Suprise & Anguish' At NLSIU Decision For Separate Admission Test; Reaffirms Decision To Conduct CLAT 2020 On Sep 28

The Executive Council of the Consortium of National Law Universities, in an emergency meeting held yesterday night, expressed its "surprise and anguish" at the decision of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, to go ahead with its own admission test.

Terming the NLSIU move a "unilateral decision", the Council noted with dismay that the NLSIU was conducting its own admission test while continuing in the consortium, which is not permissible under the Bye-laws of the Consortium. 

It further opined that the new admission test of NLSIU will put thousands of students during the extraordinary Covid-19 health emergency to a lot of inconvenience who will now have to appear in two tests instead of one.

All the members of the Executive Council except Vice Chancellor of NLSIU, Bangalore were present.

The Vice-Chancellors of NLIU-Bhopal, RGNUL-Punjab, DNLU-Jabalpur, NALSAR-Hyderabad, NLUO-Cuttack, NUSRL-Ranchi are the other members of the Executive Council of the Consortium which comprises VCs of 22 National Law Universities across the country.

The Executive Council also unanimously resolved to hold CLAT-2020 on the earlier announced date of September 28, 2020.

It was on September 3 that the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, announced its decision to hold a separate test for admission to five year B.A LL.B(Hons) course for the academic year 2020-21. The new test called the 'National Law Aptitude Test(NLAT)' is proposed to be held online on September 12.

The NLSIU has cited the repeated postponement of the CLAT exam amid COVID-19 pandemic for this new decision. It stated that the it is "uniquely disadvantaged" due to the repeated postponement of CLAT as it follows a trimester system and that if it is unable to complete admissions before the end of September 2020, it will result in a "zero year" with no admission.

On August 28, the Executive Committee of the Consortium of National Law Universities postponed CLAT 2020 from September 7th to September 28th 2020.

https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/nlsiu-backs-out-of-clat-2020-admissions-for-2020-21-based-on-separate-test-162369