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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court has proposed to transfer all petitions challenging the results of the Common Law Admission Test 2025 (CLAT-2025) to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for consolidated adjudication. All parties have been asked to present their positions in the next hearing scheduled for February 2025.
The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) held in December 2024, is the gateway for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate law courses at National Law Universities across the country. Cases challenging the CLAT 2025 results are currently active in the High Courts of Delhi, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab and Haryana.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar issued notices on transfer petitions filed by the Consortium of National Law Universities, which sought to centralise litigation pending in multiple High Courts.
Highlighting the importance of efficiency, CJI Khanna noted that consolidation would expedite the resolution of the matter. “At the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the disposal rate is very good; it is higher than other courts,” he remarked, justifying the preference for transferring all cases to this court.
The Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, supported the proposal for transferring the petitions to a single High Court but suggested Karnataka High Court as an alternative. However, the bench leaned toward the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where the first petition was filed.
Lawyers representing some petitioners requested that the cases be transferred to the Delhi High Court, citing an earlier judgment from the court, which found two CLAT UG 2025 answers to be incorrect and directed the Consortium to revise the results for specific petitioners. However, CJI Khanna declined the request, asserting that all cases should be centralised for uniformity and expediency.
Dictating the order, the bench stated, “The writ petitions pending in different 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 counsels appearing for the petitioners before different High Courts. The bench is of the view that the matters can be transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court.”
All parties have been asked to present their positions in the next hearing scheduled for February 2025.
In December 2024, the Supreme Court had declined to entertain a petition challenging the CLAT-PG 2025 answer keys, directing petitioners to approach the appropriate High Courts. Around the same time, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court held that two questions in the CLAT-UG 2025 exam were incorrect and ordered the Consortium to revise the results for affected candidates. While the Consortium appealed this order, a division bench of the Delhi High Court remarked that they found no prima facie error in the single bench’s decision.
