Are National Law Universities institutes of national importance? SC notice to all NLUs

In a significant development, the Supreme Court today issued notice to all National Law Schools in a petition filed by IP academic Shamnad Basheer seeking a permanent body for conducting Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)..The petitioner was represented by Gopal Sankarnarayanan and Liz Mathew..When the matter came up for hearing today before a Bench of Justices SA Bobde and Nageswara Rao, the Bench proceeded to discuss whether National Law Schools can be considered and declared as institutes of national importance..The Court also called upon Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court..The Court then issued notice to all National Law Schools and directed that matter be listed after two weeks..The Bench also observed that providing local reservations might not be suitable for NLUs..In 2015, Shamnad Basheer had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of a permanent body for conducting CLAT..In the petition, in which all the 18 National Law Universities (NLUs) had been arraigned as Respondents, Basheer has also asked for the constitution of an expert committee to review the working of the CLAT and suggest institutional reforms..The petition has alleged violation of Article 14 and Article 21 on the ground that that the mode and manner of conduct of CLAT is resulting in repeated violation of the fundamental rights of thousands of prospective law students..Thereafter, on September 4, the Court had issued notice to the Central Government, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL) and Chairman of the Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra. RGNUL was the NLU which was in charge of conducting the CLAT in 2016..Today, the Supreme Court has issued notice to all the National Law Universities.