CLAT 2025 Exam: SC allows 100% blind law students to use scribe for CLAT PG

Apex Court allows 100 percent blind law students to use scribe for CLAT PG 2025. The decision came after a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard a writ petition filed by three petitioners, advocating for accommodations in legal exams, including the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) and CLAT.

CLAT 2025 Exam: SC allows 100% blind law students to use scribe for CLAT PG

CLAT PG 2025: The Supreme Court has allowed a 100 percent blind law student to use a scribe, appointed by the Consortium of the National Law Universities, for the upcoming Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) Postgraduate exam 2024-25. CLAT LLM 2025 is scheduled to be held on December 1, 2024. The decision came after a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard a writ petition filed by three petitioners, advocating for accommodations in legal exams, including the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) and CLAT.

The first petitioner, a 90 percent low-vision law graduate from NALSAR University, had requested the Bar Council of India to allow the use of a computer during the AIBE-XIX exam. The second petitioner, a 100 percent blind law student from Government Law School, Mumbai, had asked the CLAT organising body to allow computer use and clarify scribe eligibility for students with visual disabilities. The third petitioner, also 100 percent blind, was seeking access to soft copies of Bare Acts and the use of a computer for the AIBE-XIX exam.

During the hearing, the Counsel for the Consortium of National Law Universities (Respondent no. 3) argued that a scribe for the second petitioner should not come from law or humanities backgrounds due to potential conflicts of interest with subjects like contracts. In response, the bench granted interim relief, allowing the petitioner to use a scribe who is an undergraduate and not from law or humanities.

The Court also noted that the petitioners' complaints about the failure of the respondents to comply with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and related government guidelines were valid. These guidelines mandate that individuals with disabilities have the right to choose their mode of examination, including options like computer use, large print, or Braille. Additionally, the petitioners raised concerns about the lack of clarity regarding scribe eligibility, accessibility of exam centers, and the failure to sensitize exam invigilators to the needs of disabled candidates.

Advocate Rahul Bajaj, representing the petitioners, also raised the issue of access to computers and soft copies of Bare Acts for the AIBE-XIX exam. AIBE 19 Exam 2024 will be held on December 22, 2024. He requested a prompt resolution on this matter, and the Court will hear further on the AIBE matter on December 5.