Shimla/Delhi, Feb 6,
The Supreme Court has directed that all legal matters concerning the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2025 undergraduate results, currently pending before multiple High Courts, be transferred to the Delhi High Court.
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Reportedly, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan, issued the order on Thursday, stating that the cases should be listed before the Delhi High Court on March 3. The Supreme Court further instructed the registrars of the respective High Courts to send all relevant documents to the Delhi High Court within seven days.
#SupremeCourt says that is not inclined to transfer all petitions concerning results of CLAT 2025 to itself. Says it would be better to transfer all petitions to one High Court.
CJI-led Bench has issued notice. pic.twitter.com/Uh8gZr7d6c
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) January 15, 2025
The decision comes after the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) sought to consolidate the cases in one court to prevent conflicting rulings on the same issue. Petitions related to the CLAT UG examination are currently pending in the High Courts of Delhi, Rajasthan, and Punjab & Haryana.
On Thursday Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CNLU, suggested the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has a high case disposal rate, or the Karnataka High Court.
The Chief Justice Bench finally decided on the Delhi High Court, saying the case records from other High Courts have to be transferred to the national capital expeditiously.
In January, the Chief Justice had remarked that “the courts will not interfere unless the answers are clearly wrong”.
A key legal development in the matter occurred on December 20, when Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi High Court partially ruled in favor of a 17-year-old candidate, Aditya, who had challenged errors in the exam. The court acknowledged mistakes in two out of the five disputed questions and directed the Consortium of NLUs to revise the results accordingly.
However, this order was contested before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court by both the NLU Consortium and the petitioner. The Consortium argued that the single-judge ruling had overstepped judicial limits by interfering in an academic matter that should be left to subject experts. On the other hand, the petitioner sought further modifications, claiming that errors in three additional questions had not been addressed.
In light of the ongoing legal battle, the NLU Consortium approached the Supreme Court, requesting a centralized hearing of all cases. The Supreme Court’s decision now ensures that a uniform verdict is reached on the matter.
Meanwhile, the controversy is not limited to the undergraduate examination. The CLAT postgraduate exam (CLAT PG) has also faced scrutiny over alleged inaccuracies in the answer key. Legal challenges regarding the CLAT PG results are currently pending in the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Bombay.
The Supreme Court’s intervention aims to streamline the legal proceedings and bring clarity to the concerns raised by candidates about the fairness and accuracy of the CLAT examination process.
