Breaking News! Supreme Court Flags Errors in CLAT-UG 2025; Directs Revised Merit List

The Supreme Court has directed the flagged multiple errors in the CLAT-UG 2025 question paper and ordered a revision of the merit list. The decision came while hearing petitions challenging a prior Delhi High Court judgment on the exam. Read further to know more.

Breaking News! Supreme Court Flags Errors in CLAT-UG 2025; Directs Revised Merit List

CLAT 2025 Result: The Supreme Court, in a significant ruling today, flagged multiple errors in the CLAT-UG 2025 question paper and ordered a revision of the merit list. The decision came while hearing petitions challenging a prior Delhi High Court judgment on the exam.

A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih criticised the “casual manner” in which the Consortium of National Law Universities had framed the questions, impacting the career prospects of lakhs of aspirants. The Court directed the Consortium to award marks for some questions and delete others, thereby setting aside parts of the High Court's ruling.

“We must express our anguish at the way the Consortium has conducted the examination, despite previous directions by this Court in 2018,” the bench remarked.

The Court issued notice to the Union Government and the Bar Council of India, noting that no effective steps have been taken since the earlier 2018 judgment to ensure standardisation in CLAT's conduct. The notices are returnable next Friday.

Key Decisions on Disputed Questions

Question 56: Both options (c) and (d) to be considered correct; marks to be awarded accordingly, negative marks for (a) and (b).

Question 77: Supreme Court reversed the High Court's deletion and upheld (b) as the correct answer; marks to be given for (b).

Question 78: Court agreed with the High Court that (c) is correct; no interference.

Question 85 & 88: Since 85 was already deleted due to errors, the Court also directed deletion of 88, finding the two similar.

Question 115 & 116: Deleted due to the complex calculations required, which the Court found unsuitable for an objective test for 16–17-year-olds.

The revised merit list will be based on these modifications.

Sharp Criticism of Consortium
The bench expressed concern over the lack of academic diligence. Justice Gavai questioned, “What kind of Vice Chancellors are setting these questions?” and asked whether the Consortium expected teenagers to bring calculators to the exam. He also raised the idea of appointing a permanent body—similar to NEET or JEE—for conducting CLAT.

Background & Legal Challenge
The matter reached the Supreme Court after Siddhi Sandeep Ladda, who secured AIR 22, challenged the Delhi High Court’s ruling, claiming it unfairly advantaged candidates who received different question paper sets (B, C, D) compared to Set A, which she had attempted. The High Court had ordered revision of the merit list based on errors in B, C, and D sets but did not extend the benefit to Set A candidates.

CLAT-UG 2025, held on December 1, 2024, drew criticism over ambiguous and erroneous questions. Following multiple petitions, the Supreme Court had earlier transferred related cases from various High Courts to the Delhi High Court.

Senior Advocates KK Venugopal, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and others represented the petitioners. The case will continue next week when the Court hears from the Union Government and the Bar Council of India.