CLAT Consortium asks NLSIU Bangalore to reconsider conducting a separate entrance exam, Know more

In a meeting today, NLSIU Bangalore has been asked by CLAT Consortium to rethink about their separate entrance exam for admissions. Read here to know more. 

The NLU admissions 2020 situation is getting more twisted after the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore decided to conduct its own entrance exam. In a meeting held today, the CLAT Consortium has asked NLSIU Bangalore to reconsider their decision or it might lose their association. Moreover, a petition has been filed on September 4 in Jharkhand High Court against the decision of NLSIU Bangalore stepping out of CLAT 2020 and, conducting NLAT 2020 separately.  

On Thursday, Dr Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor - NLU Hyderabad - Nalsar University of Law has posted on social media about the decision of NLSIU Bangalore conducting NLAT 2020. He wrote, "An emergency meeting of the EC of the Consortium of NLUs has noted with dismay unilateral decision of NLSIU to opt-out of CLAT. EC resolved to hold CLAT-2020 on the earlier announced date of September 28, 2020.

Moreover, the consortium was reportedly 'anguished and surprised' on the decision of NLSIU Bangalore to back out from CLAT 2020 and conduct its own entrance exam. In its admission notification released September 3, NLSIU Bangalore has mentioned that before CLAT was announced in 2008, the law school conducted its own entrance exam for admissions. The CLAT Consortium was formed in 2018 and all 22 NLUs were associated. Only NLU Delhi is not a part of CLAT Consortium and has been conducting its own entrance test - AILET for admissions.  

According to media reports, Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU Bangalore in the meeting today explained, "We realised we were facing a crisis when we could not finish our admissions even by September. And that could mean that the academic year itself was under threat because we are the only trimester-based national law university. It came down to a choice between not admitting students this year at all or going ahead in some useful, meaningful way and conducting a separate exam. We chose the latter…

… Frankly, we might have been the first to stick our heads out, but there are other universities which are hard-placed. We are not the only university that feels this way. We will engage with the Consortium in a very robust and constructive way. We think that many of these things can be resolved quite easily."

Also, in the admission notification, the law school stated, "The Covid-19 pandemic has however caused unforeseen difficulties and delays in the conduct of CLAT 2020. The repeated postponement of the examination has resulted in uncertainty for students, parents and the participating Universities. NLSIU is uniquely disadvantaged as it follows a trimester system where every academic year is made up of three terms of 90 days duration. Moreover, each term must accommodate 60 hours of classroom instruction in each course and adequately provide for examination and evaluation processes. Further, the academic offering for the 3rd, 4th and 5th year of the B.A., LL.B programme as well as the LL.M programme is fully integrated and requires a common academic calendar.

Hence, if NLSIU is unable to complete admissions before the end of September 2020 it will inevitably result in a ‘Zero Year’ with no admission. This will deprive law students of the opportunity to pursue their studies this year at India’s premier law university. We are fully committed to ensuring that no student is denied the opportunity to study at NLSIU this Academic Year. Hence, NLSIU is compelled by the current circumstances to conduct a separate admissions process for the B.A., LL.B and LL.M programmes for the Academic Year 2020-21."

If NLSIU Bangalore conducts NLAT 2020 then it cannot be a part of CLAT Consortium as stated in the notification below: 

Aspirants are sharing mixed reactions regarding NLSIU Bangalore's decision. Some of the candidates agreed that it is the right decision for NLSIU to conduct NLAT 2020 as the CLAT exam was being postponed repeatedly due to COVID. However, some of the aspirants detested the decision as it put them in a dilemma.  

Read More: 

• NLSIU Bangalore to conduct its own entrance exam on September 12
• CLAT 2020 rescheduled again to September 28!
• RULET 2020 application forms released
• MHCET Law 2020 likely to be held in October