SC Criticizes NLU Consortium Over CLAT-UG 2025 Question Paper Errors

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has expressed strong disapproval of the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) for its “casual manner” in framing questions for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) Undergraduate 2025.

Case Background

A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine George Masih highlighted multiple errors in the examination paper, emphasizing the potential impact on the career aspirations of thousands of students nationwide.

The court’s remarks came during the hearing of a plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s April 23 verdict, which had directed the consortium to revise the marksheets and republish the final list of selected candidates within four weeks. The Supreme Court noted mistakes in several questions, including numbers 56, 77, 78, 85, 88, 115, and 116, and issued specific directives for each:

Question 56: Pertaining to environmental duties, the court observed that the answer key incorrectly limited the responsibility to the state. It directed that students selecting options C and D be awarded marks, while those choosing A and B receive negative marking.
Question 77: The court determined that the correct answer is Option B, referring to a voidable agreement, and instructed the consortium to award marks accordingly.
Question 78: The court found similarities between this question and the already deleted Question 85, leading to the decision to delete Question 88 as well.
Questions 115 and 116: Due to issues requiring mathematical analysis, both questions were deleted, and the high court’s directive to award marks was set aside.

Court Observation

The Supreme Court also criticized the consortium for not adhering to its 2018 recommendation to establish a permanent body for conducting CLAT examinations. Consequently, it issued notices to the Union Government and the Bar Council of India, seeking their responses on creating a permanent mechanism for conducting the examination, akin to NEET and other combined entrance tests.

The CLAT 2025 examination was conducted on December 1, 2024, with results declared on December 7. The errors identified have led to discrepancies in results, prompting legal challenges and calls for a more robust examination framework.