SC: No cancellation of CLAT

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 13

The Supreme Court has rejected demands for cancellation of CLAT-2018 and ordered National University of Advance Legal Studies, Kochi — which conducted  the Combined Legal Aptitude Test — to apply the ‘normalisation’ formula to compensate 4,690 candidates who were adversely affected by technical glitches and mismanagement.

A Vacation Bench headed by Justice UU Lalit on Wednesday ordered that the entire exercise has to be completed by June 15 and revised scores of 4,690 candidates have to be published by June 16.

The ‘normalisation’ formula proceeds on the basis of answering efficiency or capacity of a candidate to answer questions in the given time and then applies his or her rate of success as a parameter.

“The normalisation formula so suggested, in the circumstances, would be the best possible way to take care of the interest of those 4,690 candidates. At the same time, it would also ensure that no prejudice is caused to rest of the candidates,” the Bench said.

The order came on petitions demanding cancellation of CLAT on the ground that it was marred by large-scale technical glitches and mismanagement affecting thousands of candidates vying for admission to 19 national law universities.

More than 54,000 candidates had undertaken CLAT- 2018 on May 13 with the help of M/s Sify Technologies Ltd.

Based on revised scores, the merit list will be rearranged and the revised position of candidates will be indicated by rank numbers 51A-51B as suggested by Grievance Redressal Committee, the top court said.

But the Bench made it clear that the first round of counselling which began on June 10 shall continue without any impediment and if any candidate is allocated a seat after first round of counselling, such allocation will not be adversely altered as a result of application of the normalisation formula.

In the second round of counselling, the rank/merit list so prepared in terms of these directions shall be the governing list and the seats in second and subsequent rounds of counselling will be allocated on the basis of the list so revised in pursuance of these directions, it ordered.

The Bench, which also included Justice Deepak Gupta, directed that if a candidate, as a result of revised rank list being operative in second and subsequent round of counselling wanted to secure admission to any other college of his or her choice going by his or her revised ranking, he/she shall be allowed to do so without incurring any disadvantage.

Rejecting demands for cancellation of CLAT-2018, the Bench said, “Any outright cancellation would visit tremendous inconvenience and hardship upon rest of the candidates.”