ARCHIT KRISHNA Vs. NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner before this Court appeared in Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), 2012 conducted by the respondents for the purpose of admission to various national law schools / universities. The said test is conducted by one or the other national law college/university, on a rotational basis. In the application form, the candidates were required to give preference for the universities/colleges participating in the said test. The petitioner was required to choose all the 14 colleges/ universities granting admission on the basis of the aforesaid test, in the order of their preference. The first four colleges/ universities indicated by the petitioner, in the order of preference, were NLSIU-Bangalore, NALSAR-Hyderabad, NLIU-Bhopal and WBNUJS-Kolkata. The petitioner obtained 141 marks in the said test and considering his position in the merit list, he could get admission in WBNUJS-Kolkata, which was the fourth preference exercised by him. The grievance of the petitioner is that the answers notified by the respondents in respect of as many as four questions was incorrect, as a result of which he was given 141 marks though he should have been given 145 marks. According to him, had he been given 145 marks, to which he was lawfully entitled, he would have got admission in NLSIU-Bangalore, which was his first choice out of 14 schools/ universities participating in the test. According to him, even 142 marks to him would have ensured his admission to NALSAR-Hyderabad, which was his second choice in the order of preference. The petitioner is accordingly seeking the following reliefs:

(2.) THE respondent has contested the petition and taken a preliminary objection that the issue involved in this writ petition stands covered by a decision of this Court dated 31.7.2012 in W.P(C) No.3732/2012, where this Court rejected the challenge to the aforesaid examination, which included challenge to the answers notified by the respondent in respect of certain questions, including Question No. 56 and 197 which are subject matter of this writ petition. On merits, the respondent has maintained that the answers notified in the answer-key are correct answers.

(3.) QUESTION no.197 :