CLAT 2025 row: SC indicates transferring petitions to Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it might transfer petitions filed against the results of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2025 to one of the high courts, preferably the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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The CLAT, 2025, for admission to five-year LLB courses in NLUs was held on December 1, 2024 and the results were declared on December 7, 2024. Several petitions are pending in several high courts, including Delhi and Karnataka, on the allegations that several questions in the CLAT, 2025 were wrong.

“The writ petitions pending in different high courts should be dealt with by one high court. As it would be expeditious, issue notice returnable in the week commencing February 3, 2025. Notices will be served to the counsel appearing for the petitioners before different high courts. The Bench is of the view that the matter can be transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” a Bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

Issuing notices to parties in various high courts, the Bench said that it was in favour of sending the cases to one high court, preferably the Punjab and Haryana High Court, for an authoritative pronouncement.

It posted the transfer petitions of the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLUs) on the row over CLAT 2025 in the week commencing February 3.

An aspirant recently told the Delhi High Court that several petitions were pending in different high courts and the transfer pleas would be moved before the top court. The high court had posted the matter for January 30.

On December 20, 2024, a Delhi High Court single judge directed the consortium to revise the result of CLAT-2025 over errors in the answer key. The single judge's verdict, which came on the plea of a CLAT aspirant, held the answers to two questions in the entrance test were wrong and the errors were "demonstrably clear" and "turning a blind eye to them" would amount to injustice.

The consortium moved against the single judge's decision.

On December 24, 2024, a Division Bench of the HC refused to pass any interim order after prima facie finding no error with the single judge's order over the two questions and said the consortium was free to declare the results in terms of the judge's decision.