CLAT 2023: Plea in SC against stringent conditions imposed by Consortium on PwD candidates

The petition against Consortium assails the conditions for being arbitrary, excessive and unreasonable.

Mr Arnab Roy, a lawyer and disability rights activist, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the stringent conditions imposed by the Consortium on the Persons with Disabilities intending to avail scribes for the law entrance exam CLAT 2023.

As per the petition, the Consortium has denied the right to scribes to anyone other than those with benchmark disability. It is argued that the same is in violation of the decision of the Apex Court in Vikash Kumar v. UPSC wherein it was held "To confine the facility of a scribe only to those who have benchmark disabilities would be to deprive a class of persons of statutorily recognised entitlements," as reported by Live Law.

The petition assails the conditions for being arbitrary, excessive and unreasonable.

"The eligibility conditions set out by the Consortium has been contended to be excessive and arbitrary and has been culled out as the reason for making the process of finding a scribe difficult for the PwD candidates. The Consortium has disowned its positive obligation to provide scribes for those who are unable to select or find one themselves either because of financial constraints or other accessibility issues," added the plea.

As per the report, 13 visually impaired candidates were denied scribes owing to the restrictions by the Consortium of National Law University.

The Consortium is also in violation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Society Justice and Empowerment that requires examination bodies to provide a scribe on request in case the PwD candidate cannot arrange for one themselves. It is emphasised that as per the prescription of the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment "in case the candidate is allowed to bring his own scribe, the qualification should be one step below the qualification of the candidate taking the examination", argued the counsel.

Read more:

• Breaking! Updating NLU Preferences mandatory to download CLAT 2023 admit card; Read official notification here
• CLAT 2023 admit card released, Download from here