CLAT 2016: P&H High Court issues notice in plea to make test offline [Read petition]

Arguably one of the most litigious entrance examinations in the country, the Common Law Admission Test is in the courts once again. This time around, CLAT is before the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which is hearing a petition seeking an offline version of the examination..Advocate Hemen Aggarwal has filed a public interest litigation not only asking the CLAT authorities to conduct an offline version, but also seeking a stay on the examination scheduled for May 8 this year. Started in 2008, the examination moved online last year, with RMLNLU organising the entrance test..The 2015 edition was not without its fair share of problems; this year an estimated 100,000 students will be signing up..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Aggarwal said that he decided to file the petition following a discussion he had with other lawyers. He says that the online format is unfair to students from rural backgrounds where computer infrastructure is poor. The other argument against the online test is the fact that students do not have the option to correct an answer once submitted..Yesterday, senior counsel Amol Rattan Singh appeared along with Aggarwal before Justices SK Mittal and HS Sidhu. The court issued notice in the petition as well as the stay application..The Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL) in Patiala are the organisers for this year’s edition, and have till March 2 to file a reply. The Bar Council of India has also been impleaded in the matter..If the past is anything to go by, this is unlikely to be the last time that CLAT 2016 is dragged to the courts..Read the petition below.