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Agonised parent pleads with CLAT schools: ‘Rectifying an omission is better than commissioning injustice’

A CLAT-aspirant’s parent, who has requested anonymity, has written an open letter pleading with the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) committee members to correct incorrect questions.

As everyone is aware, CLAT 2015 is mired under controversy and allegations of various kinds and hues.

I fail to understand why CLAT 2015 Convenor is not admitting the mistakes and taking corrective and timely action to come clean and clear!

The whole system is opaque and lacks transparency as still the Merit List like AILET or MNLU is not uploaded.

There are genuinely wrong answers that are not being rectified.

It was ridiculous to see the VC of RMNLU coming on national channel with Rajdeep Saardesai and saying that he has got the final report of the Expert Committee ( we don’t know the composition of this Expert Committee) and according to which there are no wrong answers.

Surprisingly, two days later he found two incorrect questions.

Is it not a self-mockery before the entire country ?

Still there are erroneous questions which are obvious to any person having good knowledge of English and current affairs:

  1. In English section Question ID 1733 relates to choosing a pair of word as answer that shows the same relationship as that of the original pair which is DULCET:RAUCUOUS . It is an antonym obviously. The answer should be PALLIATIVE:EXACERBATING (Ans. C) but as per CLAT KEY it is CRAZY:INSANE which are synonyms.

  2. In General Knowledge Section there is a much talked about question relating to the largest e-Commerce Company in the world. On which parameter, the largeness of the company is to be decided is not given. A large number of students , experts and parents have pointed out that question itself is not complete as both are largest company if we apply different parameters. References to articles and news were already cited. This particular question is also challenged in the Writ in Rajasthan High Court where the petitioner has claimed that the question is lifted verbatim from General Knowledge Today , a popular website and the correct answer is Alibaba therein. The said answer also says that Alibababa is the largest e-Commerce company in the world “…by gross merchandise value, volume of goods and services being transacted followed by Amazon and eBay.”

  3. In general knowledge section there is a question about a solo dance nowadays performed in group as well ( Question ID : 1770). As per CLAT Key it is “ Mohiniattam” . People have pointed out that Kathak that started as a solo dance genre is now performed in group and all of us know about Kathak Ballet. The very word Ballet means a group dance akin to a dance drama with a group of dancers . I am citing some authentic information:

    • From National Institute of Kathak Dance ( Wikipedia ) that says : “After the death of Shambhu Maharaj in 1970, his nephew Birju Maharaj, who was associated with the institution from its inception, and a noted Kathak dancer and guru in his own right, became the Head of Faculty and also remained the Director of the institution for many years. Birju Maharaj started adapting the dance, which was till now staged for small gatherings in temple courtyards or Mehfils to one catering to large gatherings in the modern proscenium theatre, and created several noted ballets in his period. Gradually what was essentially a solo-dance, moved towards expression in group performances as explained by Reginald Massey in his book “Indi’s Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future (Page 158). Over the years the repertory wing, formerly known as 'Ballet Unit' has created notable production of Kathak ballet, with evolved stage and costume design as well as elaborate music……Birju Maharaj performed these ballet productions all over the world, giving the traditional dance form, worldwide recognition.”

    • Dr Margaret Walker in her book “India’s Kathak Dance in historical perspective “writes about Kumudini Lakhia, a famous kathak exponent in late 1950s and early 1960s and says “Lakhia studied with Sambhu Maharaj and danced both as a soloist and in leading roles in some of theb Kendra’s large productions, but was dissatisfied with what she saw as an overemphasis on virtuosity in the solo dance and a privileging of history and mythology in the group works.”page 125.

    • Sunil Kothari, one of the well known scholars of Indian Classical dance mentions abput Kathak being danced in Kaiser Baug Ras Leela of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah . In his book Kathak: Indian Classical Dance Art he writes “Describing one of the group dance sequences of the gopis he has even noted that while standing in two rows, the shorter girl should occupy the first row.

    • Projesh Banerjee’s Book “Indian Ballet Dancing mentions of Pt. Birju Maharaj as “His earlier ballet production seemed solo – group pure Kathak in the royal court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. “(page 136)

    • Website homepage of Nandini Chakraborty : Nandini is a student of Guru Smt. Madhumita Roy, she was under guidance of Pandit Vijai Sankarji for 15 years. She started kathak from Smt. Preti Lahiri from childhood. She attends workshop by legendary Pt. Birju Maharaj & Smt. Shaswati Sen in several times. She performed in a number of SOLO & Group Dances in prestigious Dance festivals in India & Abroad.

    • Going by the above its quite evident that historically it was Kathak that became a group dance from solo and this transformation began during Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and in modern time propagated by Pt. Birju Maharaj. Hence, Kathak is an appropriate answer factually and historically.

  4. In Legal Reasoning Section Qusetion ID 1827 deals with liability of the employer . Many experts have already pointed out that answer should be B and not A as per CLAT as Sanjay who was a driver in Brookbond &Co picked up his fiancée Ruhina and met with an accident. Obviously, the employer is not liable as this act was done in his personal capacity and led to accident.
  5. In logic section there is a question there is a question on coding / decoding from FASHION and POSITION. The question is wrong as FASHION is having 7 letters whereas its code is having 6 alphanumerals.
  6. In logic section there is a comprehension related question where question papers are leaked out and there is a table . It has 5 subquestions carrying 1 marks each. The data given for number of blank paper is wrong . It should be 17,46,90 instead of 17,26,90. This question has been challenged in the writ petition and it has been alleged that the question was already asked in CAT 2003 but the data is wrong as a result of which it cannot be solved.

In addition to the above there are other questions which are being questioned but the above ones are prima facie wrong.

Through your forum and platform I request the CLAT authorities to dispense justice to the students who have slogged to find a place in the National Law Schools by rectifying the mistakes and giving marks to deserving candidates.

Otherwise the students who want to pursue law as a career will loose faith in LAW itself!

Still time is there for damage control like GNLU rectified 6 questions last year.

Rectifying an omission is better than commissioning injustice!

A writ petition has been filed in the Rajasthan high court in Jaipur, including a list of 15 incorrect questions.

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