Supreme Court rejects plea for court-monitored probe into CLAT 2026 paper leak allegations

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition seeking an independent and time-bound investigation into the alleged leak of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 question paper [Lalit Pratap Singh & Ors v. Consortium of National Law Universities]. .A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe noted that the exams are over and questioned the petitioner for moving the Court belatedly."You say on December 6, it was leaked. Why did you wait till 16th December to file (petition)? Before declaration of results, we would have appreciated," the Bench said.Advocate Malvika Kapila, appearing for the petitioners, contended that the petition was filed on time and also said that they were not seeking directions to re-conduct the exam.However, the Bench declined to entertain the plea..The plea was filed by a group of law aspirants claiming that videos, images and other digital material circulating on WhatsApp, Telegram and similar platforms showed the question paper and answer key being illegally accessed and shared before the exam.The petitioners urged the Supreme Court to order a fresh CLAT examination under the supervision of an independent committee, if the allegations are found to be true..CLAT 2026 was conducted on December 7, 2025, between 2 and 4 PM, across 156 test centres in 25 states and 4 union territories. Organised by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs), it serves as the national entrance test for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes in 25 NLUs. Several other universities accept CLAT scores for admission. This year, more than 92,000 students applied for around 5,000 seats..Filed by a group of law aspirants from the Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Classes and economically weaker backgrounds, the plea said that thousands of genuine candidates have been unfairly disadvantaged.The plea contended that just hours before the test, social media users began circulating images and videos purportedly showing the question paper and answer key. Several of these materials bore time stamps from the night before the exam - around 10:15 PM on December 6 - suggesting that the paper had been leaked almost 15 hours before the scheduled test. Some screenshots also contained messages offering access to the paper in exchange for payment.According to the petition, these posts appeared genuine because the Telegram messages did not carry any “edited” label, a standard marker indicating later modification. This, the plea claims, adds weight to the allegation that the leak occurred before the exam.Thus it was argued that the leak has irreparably compromised the sanctity of the exam and vitiated the level playing field essential to any public examination. Since counselling and seat allotment are scheduled to begin on January 7, continuing with the existing results would cause irreversible harm to deserving candidates, it was contended..Was CLAT 2026 paper leaked? Videos, images circulate online.The petition also highlighted that although the Consortium subsequently set up a grievance redressal portal headed by former Supreme Court Justice MR Shah, it has not released any inquiry report or clarification. Candidates who raised concerns through the portal reportedly received no response.The petitioners said that such silence has deepened public doubt and undermined trust in the fairness of the process. .The petitioners, therefore, asked the Supreme Court to appoint an independent committee or agency to verify the authenticity of the leaked materials, determine how the breach occurred and ensure accountability. .The plea has been filed through advocate Malvika Kapila. .[Read Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.