SC quashes separate entrance exam for admission to NLSIU Bangalore
Sep 21, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 21 : The Supreme Court on Monday disapproved of a separate entrance exam by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore and quashed its notification for holding a seperate Online National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT) for admission into this academic session.
A bench headed by Justice Bhushan said that the NLSIU shall conduct its admission process in accordance with the Common Law Admission Test, 2020 (CLAT).
It said that the CLAT 2020 is to be held on September 28 as scheduled in accordance with all the safety guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Last week, the apex court had reserved its judgement on the petition challenging the decision of NLSIU, Bangalore to conduct its separate entrance exam for this year.
The apex court had earlier allowed the varsity to hold the sperate entrance exam on September 12 but made it clear that results will not be declared and no admission will be done without its approval.
This year, NLSIU Bengaluru had decided to hold an Online National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT) on September 12 for admission to the University in place of the Common Law Admission Test, 2020 (CLAT), which is scheduled to be conducted on September 28.
The court's order came on a plea filed by former Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU, 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 holding a separate test.
The plea stated that such a "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.
The petitioner challenged the notice of NLSIU dated September 3 for admission to the 5 year BA LLB program 2020-21.
During the hearing, senior advocate Arvind Datar appearing for NLSIU had said that separate entrance exams are only being conducted this one year and that the university will go back to the CLAT admissions next year.
