New Delhi, Aug 9 The Bar Council of India, in an affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court, said that if Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is conducted in regional languages, it will give opportunities to more citizens to opt law as a career.
The court is hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking CLAT 2024 be held in all regional languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.
"...Bar Council of India supports the issue raised by Petitioner for conducting the CLAT examination in languages other than English as the same will give opportunities to more citizens of the country to appear in the exam and pursue law as a career," it has said.
It was further submitted that the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) held on February 5, was decided to be conducted in 23 languages including English.
Earlier, the Consortium of National Law Universities had informed the high court that preparations for the CLAT for the academic year 2024 are well underway.
It had assured the bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad that it would be capable of devising a thorough roadmap for the eventual inclusion of additional languages in the CLAT examination.
Currently, CLAT is conducted exclusively in English, and the exam for the upcoming 2024 academic year is scheduled to take place in December.
The Consortium has said that its advisory board, in collaboration with the governing body and executive committee, will actively address the substantive and procedural challenges and formulate a comprehensive plan to broaden the scope of the CLAT examination.
It also said that the advisory board has scheduled a meeting in August to specifically discuss the feasibility of conducting the examination in regional languages and this discussion will take place in light of the ongoing report being prepared by the expert committee of Vice Chancellors.
However, after hearing the case, the bench instructed the Consortium's expert committee to address the matter and make a decision during its next meeting while scheduling the next hearing on September 1.
According to the plea, the CLAT examination fails to provide equal opportunities to students whose educational backgrounds are rooted in regional languages. The plea contends that the current practice of conducting the CLAT (UG) examination exclusively in English is arbitrary, discriminatory, and violates Articles 14 and 29(2) of the Constitution.
The petitioner also relies on a recent survey conducted by IDIA Trust, which indicates that more than 95 per cent of the surveyed students come from schools where English is the medium of instruction at both the secondary and higher secondary levels. Furthermore, the petitioner argues that the new Education Policy of 2020 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 advocate the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools and higher education institutions.
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