Delhi High Court seeks roadmap on conducting CLAT in regional languages

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLU Consortium) to produce a roadmap on conducting the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) in languages other than English [Sudhanshu Pathak v. Consortium of National Law Universities through Secretary & Ors]..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that though the subject is a matter of policy decision, it would like the Consortium to produce a roadmap regarding the issue.“We agree with you (petitioner) that more language backgrounds should be included, but we are not of the opinion that it can be imposed by a mandamus. We hope the policy makers align. We have some reservation in issuing a direction,” it observed.It added that steps must be taken to overcome the barrier of language."We can ask you (Consortium) to make a roadmap and come back to give some assurance of how it is to be done. It has to be inclusive. You may include some languages in a few years. Can’t make a knee-jerk policy. If there is a barrier, you will have to overcome.".The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by a law student, one Sudhanshu Pathak, demanding that CLAT be held in regional languages along with English.Currently, the exam which governs admission to 22 national law universities across the country for LLB and LLM courses, is held only in English..The Court observed that languages of the entrance exam to National Law Universities cannot be a barrier for students who are instructed in other languages. “Entrance exams in regional languages in some sections, may be necessary for larger inclusion,” it remarked.The Bench further said though the courts are generally slow to interfere in areas of policy-making, it wants to see that the entrance examination does not serve as a barrier.“We are conscious of the fact that the manner in which tests are conducted is a matter of policy and the courts will be slow to interfere in the area of policy-makers. However it would be apposite to approach this petition only confined to the question that the entrance examination is not a barrier.”Thus, it granted time to Consortium to seek instructions on the issue and posted the case for consideration on March 18. .In a response to the PIL, National Testing Agency (NTA) had earlier told the Court that CLAT-UG papers can be translated to other Indian languages.In an affidavit filed in 2023, it had stated that it is conducting examinations like NEET-UG, JEE and others in several languages and therefore, it has a pool of experts and translators in a wide range of subjects for preparation of question papers in multiple languages“Accordingly, the question papers in respect of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) -UG can be translated into other Indian languages, such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu and design/ printing the requisite OMR Answer Sheet in the required quantity depending upon the number of candidates to be scheduled for the said Test,” the NTA had said.The CLAT (UG) can also be conducted by NTA in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode like JEE (Main) & CUET (UG) in consultation with the Consortium of NLUs, the NTA had further said..The BCI had also told Court that no deserving candidate should be deprived from giving CLAT on account of his/her inability to be proficient in English.Similarly, the Central government had also given its no objection to holding CLAT in regional languages. .Senior Advocate Sidharth Agarwal represented the Consortium of Law Universities.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.