NLSIU Bengaluru can hold separate entrance exam, can't declare results without approval: SC
Sep 11, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 11 : The Supreme Court on Friday directed that the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru can hold the sperate entrance exam tomorrow but made it clear that the results will not be declared and that no admission will be done without its approval.
A bench headed by Justice Bhushan said, "NLAT may take place scheduled for tomorrow. No results shall be declared and no admissions to take place in till the pendency of this plea."
The apex court also issued notice to the NLSIU and others seeking their response on the plea, filed by former NLSIU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr R Venkata Rao and an aggrieved parent of a CLAT 2020 aspirant challenging the sudden withdrawal of NLSIU Bangalore from CLAT 2020 and posted the matter for further hearing on September 16.
This year NLSIU Bangalore has decided to hold an Online National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT) on September 12 for admission to its University in place of the Common Law Admission Test, 2020 (CLAT), which is scheduled to be conducted on September 28.
The plea said that such "unilateral decision" of NLSIU to hold a separate examination has thrown the aspirants of CLAT 2020 into a frenzy and is a serious violation of their fundamental rights. It challenged NLSIU's notice dated September 3 for admission to the five-year BA LLB program for the academic year 2020-21.
During the hearing, senior advocate Arvind Datar appearing for NLSIU submitted that the exam is tomorrow and all arrangements have been made. Datar said that it's only this one year that NLSIU is holding this sperate exam and next year it will go back to CLAT.
The bench, while allowing the exam to be held tomorrow said, "You have already decided to hold the exams. Students are ready. Hold the exam, but no results can be announced till the pendency of the proceedings."
Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, appearing for the petitioners, said that the decision of NLSIU to have a separate entrance is violative of the by-laws. The examination standard is to be decided by the academic council and executive council cannot repeal or amend, he added.
Gupta took the bench through the Memorandum of Association of Consortium of National Law Universities, which mandates a Common Law Entrance for The National Law Universities, and said "Any NLU formally admitted is required to organise the Common Admission Test for all courses for NLU's across the country."
He further contended that the decision of the consortium was taken on August 10 that CLAT 2020 will be held on September 7 and VC of NLSIU is a signatory. On August 28 it was decided that CLAT 2020 would be postponed to September 20 due to floods and COVID-19.
NLSIU thereafter contended it will hold a separate law entrance exam. "They say they have a trimester system with 20 hrs academic sessions each week and delayed exams will hamper the academic year. This is what NLSIU states for NLAT," Gupta added.
To this, Datar said that NLSIU is the only one among all 22 NLUs which follow the trimester system and all others have a two-semester system and added that on August 12 and 18, there was an emergency meeting where it was decided that it can't go beyond September to hold CLAT 2020.
"If admissions were not completed by September then the institute would have lost 16 crores by not admitting the 120 Under Graduate students and other Post Graduate students. CLAT was postponed thrice. The postponement was not ruled out in the emergency executive council meeting," the senior counsel added.
