Today, On 7th May, The Supreme Court has slammed the CLAT-UG 2025 for errors in the question paper, ordering a revision of the merit list and the deletion of incorrect questions. This follows multiple issues identified in the exam.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court ordered a revision of the merit list for the CLAT-UG 2025 exam, citing multiple errors in the question paper.
The court also expressed significant disapproval of the Consortium of National Law Universities’ handling of the examination.
A Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih directed the deletion or revision of answers to several flawed questions and criticized the Consortium’s approach as careless.
Also Read: CLAT 2025 UG Exam || 15 Contested Questions & Answers Before Delhi High Court
The Supreme Court has partially reversed the Delhi High Court’s instructions, directing the removal of certain questions from the CLAT-UG 2025 exam and the awarding of marks for specific, correct alternative answers.
The Bench commented, expressing strong disapproval of the exam’s quality,
“At the outset, we must express our anguish at the causal manner in which the Consortium has been framing the questions for the CLAT examination which involves the career aspirations of lakhs of students in the country,”
Furthermore, the Court reprimanded the Union Government and the Bar Council of India (BCI) for their failure to act on prior concerns about CLAT’s administration, which were initially raised in the 2018 judgment in WP(C) No. 551/2018. Both entities have been issued notices and are required to respond by the following Friday.
The Bench emphasized that numerous questions were either flawed, deceptive, or excessively complicated for 16-17 year old students transitioning from secondary school.
Justice Gavai questioned the appropriateness of the questions, stating,
“Are you expecting to compare children with calculator?… 16-17 yrs old girls and boys.”
He also inquired about the reasoning behind CLAT not being managed by a permanent organization similar to NEET or JEE.
A candidate who achieved All India Rank 22 challenged the High Court’s decision before the Supreme Court, arguing that it disadvantaged candidates who received the A Set Question Paper compared to those who received sets B, C, and D, thus denying her a level playing field.
On April 23, the Delhi High Court ruled that there were errors in four questions and their corresponding answers in this year’s CLAT exam for undergraduate courses.
Also Read: Supreme Court Transfers All CLAT UG 2025 Result-Related Cases to Delhi High Court
Consequently, it instructed the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) to revise the marksheets of the candidates and publish/re-notify the final list of selected candidates within a four-week period.
The following errors in questions/answers were identified by the High Court:
- Question no. 5 of the master booklet: The answer key provided an incorrect option; option (c) is the correct answer. All candidates who marked option (c) are to receive credit.
- Question no 77 of the master booklet: The question was outside the syllabus and should be excluded and treated as withdrawn. Students who marked the correct answer will lose their mark, and students who marked the incorrect answer will gain 0.25 marks due to the reversal of negative marking.
- Question 115 of the master booklet: The answer in option (a), “Rs.204 approx,” as provided in the provisional answer key, was deemed incorrect. The answer in option (d), “None of these is the correct answer.” All candidates who attempted this question will receive full marks.
- Question 116 of the master booklet: All candidates who participated in CLAT UG 2025 with question paper sets B, C, and D are to be awarded marks for this question. As Set A did not contain this error, the Court did not interfere with the marks obtained by candidates who answered correctly.
The High Court’s judgment was delivered in a group of petitions related to the CLAT 2025 exams, following an order from the Supreme Court to transfer them from various High Courts to the Delhi High Court.
The case originated from Special Leave Petitions filed by candidates Siddhi Sandeep Ladda and Aditya Singh. Ladda, who achieved an All India Rank of 22, argued that the High Court’s ruling unfairly impacted candidates who received Set A of the question paper.
K.K. Venugopal, a Senior Advocate, represented Ladda in the case.
The Supreme Court had previously suspended the Delhi High Court’s judgment, dated April 23, 2025, which was issued by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.
Other prominent senior advocates involved in the case were Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Balbir Singh, and Rajshekhar Rao.
Case Title: (1) SIDDHI SANDEEP LADDA v. CONSORTIUM OF NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITIES AND ANR | Diary No. 22324-2025
(2) ADITYA SINGH Versus CONSORTIUM OF NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITIES | Diary No. 24223-2025
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