NLAT 2020: SC cancels NLSIU Bengaluru entrance exam, admission on the basis of CLAT

The Supreme Court cancelled the National Law School of India University's (NLSIU) admission notice dated September 3, 2020, which announced conducting separate entrance exam, the National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT) on September 12 for admission to its BA LLB (Hons) programme. The Supreme Court on September 21 said that the admission to all 22 national law colleges in India, including the NLSIU, should be conducted through the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) only. 

Read: NLAT 2020: Answer Key For NLSIU NLAT 2020 Entrance Exams Out At ‘nls.ac.in’

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan was hearing a petition filed by two petitioners, one is the father of an aspirant seeking admission in NLSIU's LLB programme, second is the former vice-chancellor of the NLSIU, Bengaluru. The court cancelled the NLAT-2020 saying that there is one centralised national level entrance test for admission to the 22 national law colleges and that should be adhered to. 

Read: NLSIU Bengaluru Allowed To Hold NLAT Exam; Results To Be Withheld Till Further Notice: SC

How CLAT came into being?

Earlier, national law colleges in India used to conduct separate entrance exam but in 2006 the court while hearing a writ petition ordered the Ministry of Human Resource to consult with the various Law Universities and other concerned stakeholders to examine and evolve a scheme/policy to with which a combined entrance exam could be conducted. In 2007, the National Law Universities entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, where they decided to hold a common national level entrance exam, namely, Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). 

Read: Plea In Delhi HC Against Domicile Reservation In NLSIU In Karnataka

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) started to be held with effect from the year 2008 for admission in five years law course of National Law Universities, which was a great relief to the students’ community aspiring for joining a professional course in Law. The CLAT was conducted at different centres throughout the country. The number of National Law Universities kept on growing one by one and currently, there are 23 National Law Universities in the country. 

Read: CLAT 2020: Common Law Admission Test Postponed Again, To Be Held On September 28

(Image Credit: PTI)