This article is written by Vansh Ved.
Before we start, let me just make this clear that this is not a rant but may only seem like one taking into account that an actual victim of this situation is venting out facts trying his best to suppress emotions of frustration.
I’ll be thoroughly informative and mindful of the information and statements I publish but won’t even take into account it’s consequences as this HAD to be said!
Table of Contents
Brief recollection of recent events
On January 30th of this year (2020) India recorded its first case of coronavirus or the SARS-CoV-2 and it’s safe to assume that we all know it’s no joke. The virus has spread like wildfire and economies, political systems, businesses and health systems have been tested and crashed into the ground.
The common law admission test (CLAT) 2020 was postponed 5 times in a span of 5 months and it’s been nothing short of a dizzy loop of doom for CLAT aspirants this year.
CLAT Consortium’s actions through the months
The Consortium has been dealing with this situation as it comes and has been optimistically determining their endgame for the conduction of the test. The mistake they’ve been making since the first postponement is that they don’t realize the virus is growing and how?! From a number of cases in thousands all over India, it’s boomed up exponentially to close to 5 million cases in the country today. It’s understandable to not have a clear and accurate foresight in this situation but consistently failing to predict the situation and giving these false rays of hope to the already desperate aspirants every month doesn’t seem very indicative of intelligentsia.
Complaining about how we the students are frustrated of sitting at home with the fear of an impending exam is a very narcissistic take in a country which is experiencing thousands of people die every day, people facing financial crisis in dealing with medical bills, border tensions rising on the fronts of Galwan and Pangong lakes and millions of the downtrodden starving for basic necessities and essentials. But, there is a ‘but’, yes! A system that cares for the students and creates environments conducive of growth and progress in terms of intellect, talent, skill and expertise, is an ultimate start to everything! If we want to see a future with much powerful and deeper rooted medical systems, better governance and execution( at least a level up from the current scenario) in such uncertain times and if we want the millions of ‘discarded from a good life’ public to come out of that bubble and live their life under habitable and secure environments, then the system needs a change, badly and desperately.
NLSIU Bangalore’s recent tantrums
On the 3rd September, right in the middle of the night, NLSIU Bangalore, the ‘Harvard’ of India, decided to withdraw from the Consortium and conduct its own exam with its own entirely bizarre pattern on its own terms.
Now, there’s only some out amount of annoyance that we can express through words, the rest just comes out in moments like these. They claim that if they further delay the admission process and the semester happens to start a month or two from now, their semester conducting process will be disrupted and laid back. In a situation where economies and have hit rock bottom and are on the verge of a radical overhaul, the board of NLSIU thinks if they go with the decision of the consortium to conduct the CLAT just 15 days from now, their tri-semester system and procedure for its conductance will get disrupted. I’m speechless as to how they face the question of caring for it’s students when they unabashedly decided to conduct a 45 minute examination with negative marking for even leaving a question unattempted and gave the students an eternity to prepare for it…8 days!
For 70 general category seats, it is an understatement to call the NLU insane.
My approach
If we start with ‘‘at the end of the day…” and trickle down to “it is what it is”, my approach to come out of this would be looking for a decent place to help myself grow and learn and join an institute whose very culture goes against creating unnecessary pressure environments. I got a call from two moderate to good colleges that might be at a tier below the top NLUs but they cared enough to call me and notify me seven times a week to keep me updated about their decisions. Again, at the end of the day, from many sources including the owner of iPleaders, what I’ve learnt from their experiences is that it eventually wont matter whether you graduated from an NLU or not( doesn’t mean I’ll compromise on my preparation), what will matter will be the dedication to stick to a stream in law, keep interning and get out of the sandbox to work on practical projects.
My message to my peers would be to accept whatever is thrown at you at the moment as it’s just a trailer of the things that are waiting for us ahead and life is, on its own, an improv. My message to my seniors ( in law schools or above) would be to try and rebel against this system so that no compromise is ever done for the sake of the needs of an institute at the cost of the time, energy and mental health of the students.
LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:
