Demonetisation of CLAT 2017: Only online payers may apply • Deadline: 31 March

Monday, 2 January 2017 By Prachi Shrivastava Bar, Bench & Litigation

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2017 convenor CNLU Patna will only accept online payment for registration for the tenth edition of CLAT, to be held on 14 May.

CNLU registrar Dr SP Singh told us today that until last year aspirants could register for CLAT online as well as offline, however CNLU has scrapped the offline mode this year. Singh said that less than 1% of aspirants paid online in the previous years of CLAT and it took around three or four days for the payment to process, which was problematic when some of them paid offline at the last minute.

Going by previous years’ trends, fewer than 500 aspirants will be affected by this move to go completely online.

Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) executive vice president Swaraj Paul Barooah said that the lack of an offline payment mechanism does not affect IDIA scholars – many of whom are financially weak candidates from remote parts of India – as IDIA has paid online for the registration of its scholars for CLAT last year and will continue paying online in future years.

Barooah added: “Though our IDIA students may be covered, it does add to the vast set of barriers that prevent students from non-elite backgrounds from entering the top law schools of the country.”

LLB Candidates over the age of 20, for the general, NRI and sponsored category, and 22 for the reserved categories, will not be allowed to apply for CLAT 2017. This age limit is currently under challenge from 57 CLAT aspirants in the Allahabad high court, after the CLAT committee decided in October to implement this age limit following the Bar Council of India’s resolution.

Candidates can apply for CLAT 2017, starting today until 31 March 2017 which is the last date when CNLU will accept applications and applicants’ forms stating their order of preference of national law universities (NLU).

Singh said that the mock exam papers will be published on CLAT’s official website within one month from today.

Clarification, 3 january 2017: We have amended the quote to reflect that IDIA has only paid online for candidates last year and will do so in future years. Barooah has also added now that the move to go online adds to the vast set of barriers that prevent students from non-elite backgrounds from entering India’s top law schools.

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)CNLU PatnaDr SP SinghCLAT 2017age limit

Comments

Guest 2 Jan 2017, 11:10
+1 -2
Very worrying that CLNU Patna is conducting the exam, as Bihar has a track record of paper leaks.
Soothsayer! 2 Jan 2017, 12:28
+4 -0
Do not blame Bihar for everything! In the past, even AIEEE, CAT, and other exam papers have been leaked. Other NLUs have also not set a great precedent in conducting the examination fairly with a series of incorrect questions. Everyone has had their share of follies. Do not target a place or an institution just because you are opinionated or there is an operative bias. Relax!! They might just conduct the exam in the best way possible.
Outsider 3 Jan 2017, 02:58
+1 -0
If I remember correctly, the only time an allegation of leak had surfaced in the history of CLAT was the second time when NALSAR hosted the examination. So, clearly, corruption is not the monopoly of a region or an institution. There are corrupt people everywhere, as well as good ones. I am somewhat apprehensive at CNLU's organisational capacity though, but hope things will go fairly smoothly like RGNUL did last year.
Guest 2 Jan 2017, 13:08
+0 -0
just disgusting. yes, go on make it more difficult for the unbanked to stand any chance at all!
Tweetie 3 Jan 2017, 03:04
+0 -2
Swaraj could not have said that, Kian. He is either wrongly informed, which is quite possible since he has been with IDIA for only about 2.5 years, or is being misquoted. As a past IDIA volunteer myself, I can vouch for the fact that at least some scholars' fees used to be paid offline earlier. But the point is this advantage only holds for those students who are being handheld by IDIA. There are many others similarly placed, who would not have any idea about how to get it done. And banks are quite unhelpful in these aspects.
Prachishrivastava 3 Jan 2017, 05:30
+0 -0
Hi

Thank you for your comment.

We have amended the quote to reflect that IDIA has only paid online for candidates last year and will do so in future years.

Barooah also added that though IDIA students may be be covered, it does add to the vast set of barriers that prevent students from non-elite backgrounds from entering the top law schools of the country.

Best wishes
Prachi
Commenting is closed for this article.