The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on Thursday announced its decision to hold a separate “online home-based” entrance test this year and not accept the scores of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). While CLAT is scheduled to take place on September 28, NLSIU’s separate entrance is scheduled on September 12. “NLSIU is uniquely disadvantaged as it follows a trimester system where every academic year is made up of three terms of 90 days duration. 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,” a statement issued by the university said. “We shifted to online classes very quickly compared to other universities, even conducted our final exams seamlessly and are ready to have our convocation on September 27. In fact, only four days were lost due to the Covid-19 disruption,” an official said. CLAT is a centralised common entrance conducted by a consortium of National Law Universities for admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in law in 22 National Law Universities across the country, including NLSIU, Bengaluru. National Law University, Delhi also does not accept CLAT scores and participates instead in the All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) which is scheduled for September 26. Both CLAT and AILET have been rescheduled at least twice in the wake of the pandemic. “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,” the statement from NLSIU added.
