2013 CLAT Core Committee to conduct first meeting on October 1 AgenciesFirms invited to make presentations for conducting CLAT 2013 flawlessly

The first meeting of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2013 Core Committee will be held on October 1, 2012. Every year CLAT is held on rotation basis by participating Universities and this year CLAT 2013 will be organized by Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur..The first meeting of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2013 Core Committee will be held on October 1, 2012. Every year CLAT is held on rotation basis by participating Universities and this year CLAT 2013 will be organized by Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur..Dr. Dipak Das, Convener of Implementation Committee CLAT 2013, has issued a notification on the CLAT website asking firms/agencies to make presentation during the first CLAT Core Committee meeting, for providing IT solutions and other required services such as dealing with printing and processing of application forms both online as well as offline, scanning of OMR sheets, data capturing, processing, analyzing, publication of result and allotment of seats etc..The notification further says, “Agencies/Firms are expected to make presentations on the kind of services they would be able to provide, the model they suggest and how will it help us in conducting the CLAT 2013 flawlessly and in a successful manner.”.Speaking to Bar & Bench, a Professor at HNLU, who is involved with the Implementation Committee of CLAT said, “We have only initiated the process. We cannot comment on anything now. You have to wait for the first CLAT Core Committee meeting to get over.”.When asked about his reaction on HNLU being impleaded as a party in the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) before the Delhi High Court seeking the establishment of a permanent CLAT body, he said, “We have read the news only in Bar & Bench and we are yet to receive a notice; hence I cannot comment further.”.Ramanuj Mukherjee, prominent CLAT mentor said to Bar & Bench, “I hope HNLU will make provision for centralized counselling this time. The present system of providing a preference system has many drawbacks and adversely affects the students from weaker backgrounds. Some students even have to shift from one college to another after taking admission in one. Since the CLAT committee is looking for technology partners, they should also try to address the centralized counselling issue which can be easily addressed through technology.”.Speaking to Bar & Bench, M. A. Rashid (author of Lexis Nexis’s Ultimate Guide to LLB Entrance) said, “We need a permanent CLAT Body at the earliest. Owing to the fact that each University conducts the exam according to its own whims and fancies every year, there is a clear lack of uniformity in the standards across the nation, putting the students at a very disadvantageous position..If you take the case of CLAT for P.G students, in 2008 when NLSIU conducted the exam they asked 50% questions from English and 50% from Law. NALSAR conducted CLAT in 2009 and they asked 50 objective questions, 10 short note questions and 2 essay questions. This was followed in 2010 CLAT by NLIU. When NUJS organized CLAT in 2011 there were 100 objective questions and 2 essay questions for the P.G. exam. This was followed in CLAT 2012. In five years, three different patterns have been followed. This is a highly erroneous way to organize national level entrance exam and it does show the glaring and distressing reality, questioning the efficiency of the conducting Universities. A student would take at least a year to prepare for CLAT whilst the notification regarding the exams and patterns are put out just few months before the exam. Surely a solution has to be found for finding the best students across India thereby ending anomalies in conducting the examination”..As CLAT 2013 Core Committee has already started functioning, a permanent CLAT body might become a reality only during CLAT 2014..As of now, all hopes are on the Letter Patent Appeal pending before the Delhi High Court.