CLAT 2013: Kerala High Court issues notice to HNLU in the petition alleging discrepancy in allotment list

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is embroiled in controversy yet again, this time for discrepancies in the allotment of candidates. The Kerala High Court has issued notice to the Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur (HNLU) in a writ petition filed by four candidates praying for a stay of the allotment process, and rectification of the discrepancies..The matter was heard by Justice K. Surendra Mohan..The petitioners have claimed that though they had marked the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Cochin (NUALS) as their preferred National Law University (NLU) in the CLAT application forms, they were allotted Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU) despite being eligible for obtaining a seat in NUALS..Advocates Hariharan and Jayashankar PG are representing the petitioners while Senior Counsel Babu Varghese is representing NUALS..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Hariharan said that the current process of application was such that the applicants were not given a copy of the application form which they had filled up. He also said that they might move an appropriate forum later on and press for an investigation into the matter by a central investigating agency if the facts and circumstances so require, in order to ensure that there is more transparency in the application, allotment and admission process..The petitoners had also sought for keeping 4 seats vacant in NUALS but no interim relief has been granted by the Court..The matter has been listed for June 17, 2013..Around 29, 500 students had registered for the CLAT this year. The exam was held on May 12, 2013 and the results were published on May 31, 2013. The First Provisional Allotment List and Waiting List for Undergraduate candidates were published on the CLAT website on June 2, 2013. The second allotment list is expected to be published today and the third allotment list is expected to come out on June 16, 2013. Since the next hearing is scheduled for June 17, 2013, the petition might be rendered infructuous..Further, the results of 3 candidates, that had initially been withheld, have now been published. All the 3 candidates belong to the General category. Two of those candidates have been directed to deposit the advance amount for allotment of seats..Allegations of discrepancies in the allotment had cropped up after NUALS dropped below Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow (RMLNLU) and CNLU as per the first Provisional Allotment List published on CLAT website..Image taken from here