CLAT PIL: Law Schools Flout PWD, NRI Admission Norms, Alleges Prof Shamnad

Legal scholar Prof. Shamnad Basheer has filed a PIL raising many issues with regard to CLAT exams.
His main contention is that Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) conducted last year is in clear contravention of the provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995.  Under the act government universities and other universities which are aided by government are required to reserve at least three percent of seats for persons with disabilities. In some NLUs either no seats are reserved or less than 3 % are reserved.
He also pointed out the irregularities and lapses in the way CLAT exams are conducted and asked for a institutionalized and structured mechanism for same. He also contended that no consolidated rank list was issued this time instead, a university-wise indicative list based on merit-cum-preference of candidates was published. As a result of this students were unaware of their chances to be upgraded to higher ranked NLU.
He also pointed out the errors in the answer key of previous CLAT papers and how no remedial action was taken to rectify the same. Another serious allegation is regarding the allotment of NRI seats. The eligibility condition prescribed by most universities state that the candidate need only be an “NRI-sponsored” candidate. In this way, almost any rich privileged student in India with some far-flung nexus to an NRI is able to gain special unequal treatment and gain admission, without scoring well enough in the CLAT to merit admission unlike other candidates.