The Bombay high court today reversed the stay it had imposed on Saturday on the publication of results of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2015, which was reported by Legally India earlier today.

The high court had ordered a stay on the CLAT’s publication of the final allotment list, since the petitioner and CLAT candidate Shubham Dutt had said the CLAT convenor RMLNLU Lucknow had not responded to his representation that seven questions in the exam were incorrect.

Clarification: One lawyer for the CLAT told Legally India that the Bombay high court had never ordered a stay. The order leaves some ambiguity in interpretation, but it appears from subsequent orders that the Bombay high court had not intended a stay.

The CLAT convenor was represented by senior counsel Kevic Setalwad, while the second respondent, the Union of India, was represented by senior counsel Ravi Kadam, instructed by MV Kini & Co.

The third respondent – the All India Council for Technical Education – was deleted from the list of respondents.

The bench of justices Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi and Anoop V Mohta held:

The learned Senior Counsel appearing for Respondent No.1 [the CLAT convenor], on instructions, submitted that as the matter is coming for the first time, they would like to file a short affidavit referring to the averments/objections so raised regarding those seven questions. According to Respondent No.1, the Expert Body has already taken a decision even noting the objections so raised by the Petitioner and proceeded further to publish first revised allocation list on 9 th June, 2015, second list on 15 th June, 2015. Third allocation list was published on 21 st June, 2015. Based upon these lists so published, the concerned candidates must have proceeded further including payment of counseling fee. The Petitioner himself paid the requisite payment after second list.

The learned Senior Counsel appearing for Respondent No.1 has also submitted that they would like to take appropriate steps to club all the matters pending in various High Courts including Allahabad, Rajasthan and Kerala, apart from this petition, as the issue is with regard to All India CLAT­2015 examination.

The Petitioner has also placed on record a chart giving reasons for correctness of chosen options with remarks and its sources.

That chart is taken on record and marked 'X' for identification The learned Senior Counsel appearing for the Petitioner has submitted that a case is made to grand an interim relief at least to the extent to stay of further steps based upon the last list so published. The dates of admission against allotment list will be completed by participating NLU(s) from 24 th to 27 th June, 2015. The fourth and final allotment list will be published on 1 st July, 2015 and admission against fourth allotment list will be completed from 2 nd to 4 th July, 2015, the admission process will be closed on 6 th July, 2015.

However, considering the averments so made and the time so taken to file present petition and the stages so crossed as recorded above and as other students/candidates must have already proceeded further based upon the lists so published, specifically first and second list, we are not inclined to grant any relief so prayed, unless we hear respondent No.1 after the affidavit/reply, which they are filing by day after tomorrow i.e. 25th  June, 2015.

Read full order here (PDF) 

Hat-tip to CLATHead Facebook group for pointing us to the order