[Breaking] SC Quashes NLSIU's Decision To Hold NLAT; Directs It To Admit Students Based On CLAT [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the decision of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru to hold a separate admission test by way of the National Legal Aptitude Test (NLAT).

The NLSIU has been directed to admit students for the present academic year (2020-21) based on the scores of the CLAT.

The Court directed the Consortium of the National Law Universities to hold the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) on September 28 itself in accordance with all health guidelines issued by the Central Government and authorities.

The Consortium has also been directed to publish the CLAT results as early as possible so that the law universities can start their classes by mid-October. The Court held as follows:

(I) The notice for admission to the five year integrated B.A.LL.B(Hons.) programme 2020-21 dated 03.09.2020 Annexure -P 14 as well as Press Release 106 on NLSIU admission 2020-21 dated 04.09.2020 Annexure-P 15 are quashed.

(II) The respondent No.3 [Consortium of National Law Universities] is directed to conduct the CLAT-2020 examination on 28.09.2020 taking all precautions and care for health of the students after following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD).

(III) The respondent No.3 shall also ensure that the entire process of declaration of the result be completed as early as possible to enable the respondent No.1 and other National Law Universities to start their course by the mid of October-2020.

(IV) The respondent No.1 shall also complete the admission of B.A.LL.B(Hons.) programme 2020-21 on the basis of the result of CLAT-2020.

(V) The respondent No.3 may take decision at an early date restoring the status of respondent No.2 as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Consortium as 107 well as restoring the Secretariat of the Consortium as to NLSIU, keeping in mind that scheduled exam of CLAT-2020 on 28.09.2020 is not hampered in any manner.

It was on September 17 that a bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah reserved judgment on the petition challenging NLAT.

On September 11, the top court had passed an interim order to restrain the NLSIU from publishing the results of NLAT and from making admissions on its basis, while allowing the conduct of the test on the next day, September 12.

The petition was filed by Rakesh Kumar Agarwalla (father of a law aspirant) and Professor R Venkata Rao (the former Vice-Chancellor of the NLSIU), challenging the decision taken by the NLSIU to back out of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and to hold a separate admission test. The NLSIU stated that it was "uniquely disadvantaged" because of the repeated postponement of CLAT as it was following a trimester system, distinct from other universities. It said that it will face a 'zero year' if it is not able to complete the admission process by the end of September.

The test, which was a home-based AI-proctored online exam, was held on September 12 amid widespread complaints of technical glitches and manipulation. On September 14, the NLSIU held a re-test for those candidates who had submitted technical complaints. But there were complaints of paper-leak during the re-test. NLSIU maintained that the paper leak will not affect the integrity of the exam.

The petitioners, represented by Senior Advocates Nidhesh Gupta and Gopal Shankaranarayanan, essentially argued that the NLSIU cannot unilaterally decide to hold a separate admission test while remaining as a member of the Consortium of NLUs. It was further argued that the Executive Council of NLSIU could not have taken the decision without the concurrence of the Academic Council.

The petitioners also highlighted that the NLSIU VC had kept the Consortium in the dark about the move for NLAT, even while remaining a signatory to the decision to hold CLAT on September 28.

The petitioners also submitted that NLSIU's decision for a separate test put thousands of candidates to severe hardship, as they were under the expectation that preparation for CLAT will suffice for admission to the NLSIU as well.

Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar appeared for NLSIU. The VC of NLSIU, Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy, was represented by Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya. Senior Advocate P S Narasimha submitted the stand of the Consortium of the NLUs before the bench.

The reports about the arguments may be read here :

'NLAT Reduced To A Farce; It Was Test Of Competence In Manipulation' : Petitioners Against NLSIU Test Submit In SC

'Concurrence Of Academic Council Not Needed For NLAT' : Sr Adv Arvind P Datar Submits For NLSIU

NLAT v. CLAT : Safety Measures Were There To Ensure Absence Of Malpractices, Arvind Datar Submits For NLSIU

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