IDIA writes to NUALS, CLAT Committee; Requests publication of Consolidated rank list, rank of SAP category candidates

Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) which provides training to underprivileged students to gain admission to National Law Universities, has written to National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) and the CLAT Committee regarding non-publication of consolidated and category wise merit/rank list.

The results of CLAT were published on May 31. However, only individual ranking was made available through the candidate login system. A consolidated rank list of all the candidates who took the exam was not published. Further, category wise rank list was also not published.

Also, candidates who took the exam under the Specially Abled Persons (SAP) category were provided with an All India General Rank alone and their position/ rank under the SAP category was not disclosed.

IDIA has now written to the CLAT Implementation Committee pointing out these deficiencies.

Non-disclosure of merit/ rank list and transparency

It has stated that lack of a consolidated rank list along with category wise rank list renders the process of result announcement and seat allotment non-transparent.

Without access to a consolidated/ category wise rank list, candidates do not have any means to ascertain if another candidate with lower score has been allotted a higher rank and vice versa, the letter by IDIA states.

“This allows unscrupulous elements to manipulate the system and potentially allot seats illegally to undeserving candidates, without having to face any scrutiny”

SAP Category ranking

One of the major grievances raised in the letter is regarding non-publication of SAP category rank list and the individual rank under SAP category.

“…it is shocking to note that neither the SAP category merit/ rank list nor the individual rank of candidates under SAP category has been made available presently.”

This, the letter states, is a violation of the principle of fairness and transparency and the provisions of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (Act).

The said Act mandates that all government and government aided higher educational institutions reserve not less than 5 percent of seats to persons with benchmark disabilities.

IDIA has stated that non-publication of SAP category rank list and individual SAP category rank effectively means that those who are eligible to claim admission under the said category have no way to claim their entitlement under the Act.

Denial of Right to Know

The letter further alleges that the CLAT Help Desk which is meant to address the grievances of candidates “has utterly failed in its duties and has made misleading representation to many candidates”.

The letter states that an IDIA SAP category trainee had called up the Help Desk to enquire about the release of SAP category Rank List. However, he was told that he took the exam under General Category and not SAP category “despite availability of proof to the contrary”.

Such denial of information is in violation of various provisions of the Act including Section 3 which provides safeguards against discrimination, the letter states.

The letter also adverts to the fact that consolidated as well as category wise rank list was published for CLAT in most of the previous years.

“There is no reason including technological reasons, why such information should be withheld from public scrutiny.”

Requests

The letter ends with the following requests:

• Publish a consolidated rank/ merit list of all candidates who have given the exam along with separate category wise rank/ merit list and make the same available for public viewing and download on CLAT website;
• Publish the results of SAP category candidates along with consolidated SAP category merit/ rank list and make the same available for public viewing and download on CLAT website.

Read the letter below.